Erdogan, Zelenskyy meet ahead of NATO summit

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday met with his Ukrainian counterpart in Istanbul. Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to Turkey comes at the end of a European tour aiming at strengthening Kyiv’s bid to join NATO and secure more military aid from allies.

Earlier on Friday, Zelenskyy said during a press conference in the Slovakian capital of Bratislava that indecision among NATO members with respect to accepting Sweden and Ukraine into the military alliance is a “threat” to global security. 

“This is a threat to the strength of the alliance,” Zelenskyy said. “This is very important for the security of the whole world.”

While Zelenskyy was calling on NATO to hasten the accession of Sweden and Ukraine, Erdogan was slamming Stockholm over mounting pressure to ratify their bid. 

“How can a state that does not distance itself from terrorist organizations contribute to NATO?” Erdogan said during a military graduation ceremony in Istanbul.

Sweden and Finland last year reversed their decades-long tradition of military non-alignment and applied to join NATO following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Unanimous approval is required by alliance members and Turkey has used this as leverage to pressure them to counter Kurdish groups it considers “terrorists” in exchange for Ankara’s approval of their accession. 

In April, Turkey ratified Finland’s bid but continues to block Sweden’s, claiming that Stockholm has failed to address Ankara’s “terror” concerns. “By approving Finland’s membership, we have expressed our principled stance,” Erdogan said. 

Erdogan is scheduled to meet with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on Monday in Lithuania ahead of a NATO summit. The meeting is Stockholm’s last ditch effort to gain Ankara’s approval. Erdogan said on Monday that Turkey will not back down from its demands of Sweden.