Copenhagen, 26 June 2023 (dpa/MIA) - In view of the Turkish block on Sweden's accession to NATO, a meeting of high-ranking representatives from Sweden, Finland and Turkey before a summit of the defence alliance in July is planned, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday.

"This meeting will include foreign ministers, heads of intelligence and national security advisers. The aim is to make progress in completing Sweden's accession to NATO," Stoltenberg said at a press conference in Lithuania.

He had spoken with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Sunday and was also in contact with the governments in Stockholm and Helsinki, Stoltenberg said.

They had agreed to hold a high-level meeting in Brussels before the July 11-12 NATO summit in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius.

In the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership in May 2022.

Finland has been a member of the alliance since April 2023, while Sweden still lacks Turkey and Hungary's approval.

Ankara is blocking Sweden's accession mainly on the grounds that Sweden is taking insufficient action against "terrorist organizations."

There have been repeated meetings between representatives of the countries to resolve the Turkish blockade, most recently in Ankara in mid-June.

During that meeting Erdoğan cast doubt his approval would come by the NATO summit.

Photo: EPA archive