Erdogan, Biden to hold one-on-one meeting at NATO Vilnius Summit

The presidents of Türkiye and the United States have agreed to have a one-on-one meeting at an upcoming NATO summit in Lithuania's capital Vilnius.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a phone call with United States President Joe Biden on Sunday, discussing a range of matters including Sweden's bid to join NATO, said a statement by the Turkish Communications Directorate.

On Sweden's ongoing efforts for NATO membership, which have faced opposition from Ankara due to security- and terrorism-related concerns, Erdogan told Biden that Stockholm took "correct steps" by passing recent anti-terror amendments.

However, these were nullified by flagrant demonstrations by sympathisers of the PKK terror group, the president added.

He also said it would be incorrect to associate Sweden's NATO accession bid with the sale of F-16 jets to Türkiye while thanking his US counterpart for his support to Ankara on its desire to purchase the fighter aircraft from Washington.

Türkiye's potential EU membership

The two leaders also discussed Türkiye's European Union accession process and Ukraine's position vis-a-vis NATO during the call.

Underlining that Türkiye has been principled and honest in joining the EU, Erdogan said Ankara wanted to revive its accession process for full membership in the bloc.

He added that Türkiye wanted leading EU countries and the bloc's leadership to give a clear and strong message of support for its membership during the Vilnius summit.