Turkiye deals blow to Sweden's NATO plans

No positive view on bid when terrorists are protesting in Stockholm: Erdogan

Turkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan played down the expectations for his country's approval of Sweden's NATO membership ahead of the military alliance's summit next month in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Erdogan's words came ahead of a trilateral meeting by Turkiye, Sweden and Finland in the Turkish capital Ankara on Wednesday to pave the way for Sweden's membership. Meanwhile, NATO defense ministers are meeting in Brussels from Thursday to Friday.

"Sweden's expectations don't mean we'll follow them," Erdogan said during a trip to Azerbaijan, Bloomberg and Turkish news media reported on Wednesday, referring to the hope by Stockholm, Washington and NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg for Sweden to become a member before the summit on July 11-12.