Biden to Hold Bilateral Talks with Erdogan on the 11th... Also Plans Separate Meeting with Zelensky

U.S. President Joe Biden, who embarked on a European tour, will hold talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an ahead of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit. He is also planning a bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The White House announced on the 10th (local time) that President Biden and Turkish President Erdo?an will hold a summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, where the NATO summit will take place on the 11th. This comes immediately after Turkey agreed to expedite the previously stalled approval process for Sweden's NATO membership, just one day before the NATO summit.

President Joe Biden of the United States
[Photo by Yonhap News]

On the same day, after NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced the agreement, President Biden issued a separate statement expressing his welcome of Turkey's decision.

President Biden said, "I welcome this decision," adding, "I am ready to work with President Erdo?an and Turkey to strengthen European and Atlantic defense."

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year, Sweden, along with Finland, submitted an application to join NATO. Finland became the 31st member country in April after unanimous approval from the 30 member states, but Sweden was unable to join NATO due to objections from Turkey and Hungary. President Erdo?an had delayed final approval, demanding that Sweden strengthen its response to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), an anti-Turkey armed group, but on this day, Turkey agreed in its parliament to expedite the membership process.

While President Biden has continued to exert strong pressure on Turkey, which has blocked Sweden's NATO membership, he has also offered incentives such as supporting Turkey's long-standing request to purchase F-16 fighter jets.

Before departing for his European tour, on the 9th, President Biden spoke with President Erdo?an by phone to discuss Sweden's NATO membership and the F-16 fighter jet purchase.

Political media outlet Politico reported that President Biden is also planning a separate bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on the 12th.

President Zelenskyy is demanding Ukraine's swift NATO membership, but President Biden and other NATO member countries have shown reluctance.

President Biden plans to propose an "Israel-style security guarantee" to Ukraine instead of NATO membership. In a recorded interview with CNN aired on the 9th, he stated, "Ukraine is not yet ready to join NATO," and that while Ukraine works to meet the qualifications for membership, the U.S. has been discussing with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ways to provide security similar to what the U.S. offers Israel."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.