By Ezgi Erkoyun and Kanishka Singh
ISTANBUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden expressed a desire to see Sweden join NATO “as soon as possible” during a phone call with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan during which they discussed the bid of Sweden to become a member of the Western alliance, the White House said on Sunday.
Turkey, along with Hungary, has been a stumbling block to Sweden’s bid, which requires unanimous approval from all NATO members.
Erdogan told Biden that Stockholm had taken steps in the right direction for Ankara to ratify his candidacy, referring to an anti-terrorism law, but said those steps were not helpful as supporters of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) were continuing to stage protests in Sweden, the Turkish Presidency’s Communications Directorate said separately on Sunday.
Biden “expressed his desire to welcome Sweden into NATO as soon as possible,” the White House said in a statement.
The leaders agreed to meet face to face in Vilnius, Lithuania, at an upcoming NATO summit and discuss bilateral relations and regional issues in detail, the Turkish presidency also said.
Sweden failed to persuade Turkey to lift its block on Stockholm’s path to NATO membership at a foreign ministers’ meeting on Thursday, as Ankara demanded more action in the fight against terrorism.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said he would call a meeting between Erdogan and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson in Vilnius on Monday.
Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership last year, abandoning policies of military non-alignment that had lasted through Cold War decades in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine .
While Finland’s NATO membership was given the green light in April, Turkey and Hungary have yet to approve Sweden’s candidacy. Stockholm has been pushing to participate in next week’s NATO summit in Vilnius.
During their call, Biden and Erdogan also discussed delivering F-16 fighter jets to Turkey and Ukraine’s goal of joining NATO, according to the Turkish presidency’s reading.
(Reporting by Ezgi Erkoyun and Kanishka Singh; Editing by Hugh Lawson, Peter Graff and Leslie Adler)