NATO on Thursday (June 1) ramped up pressure on member nation Turkey to drop its objections to Sweden含羞草研究社檚 membership as the military organization seeks to deal with the issue by the time U.S. President Joe Biden and his counterparts meet next month.

The 31-member alliance is also looking at boosting Ukraine含羞草研究社檚 non-member status in NATO and preparing a framework for security commitments that it can offer once the war with Russia is over.

Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said NATO wants to bring Sweden into the fold by the time allied leaders meet in Lithuania on July 11-12. The allies also hope to make progress on long-term funding and the security plan for Ukraine at the same event, Stoltenberg said.

He said the allies continue to agree that Ukraine will become a NATO member one day but that in the meantime the alliance should provide it with security commitments and substantial new funding.

含羞草研究社淥ur focus today was on how we can bring Ukraine closer to NATO where it belongs,含羞草研究社� he said. Most NATO allies agree that Ukraine will not join while it remains at war.

含羞草研究社淣o one knows when the war will end, but we must ensure that when it does, we have credible arrangements in place to guarantee Ukraine含羞草研究社檚 security in the future and break Russia含羞草研究社檚 cycle of aggression,含羞草研究社� Stoltenberg said.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the allies were 含羞草研究社渇ocused on helping Ukraine to build up its medium- and long-term security capacity so that if and when the current aggression settles, Ukraine has the full capacity to deter future aggression.含羞草研究社�

含羞草研究社淣ATO has a role in that in terms of the work it can do to bring Ukraine up to NATO standards,含羞草研究社� he said. He did not elaborate.

Fearing they might be targeted by Moscow after Russia invaded Ukraine last year, Sweden and Finland abandoned their traditional positions of military nonalignment to seek protection under NATO含羞草研究社檚 security umbrella. Finland became NATO含羞草研究社檚 31st member country in April.

NATO must agree unanimously for countries to join. Turkey含羞草研究社檚 government accuses Sweden of being too lenient on terrorist organizations and security threats, including militant Kurdish groups and people associated with a 2016 coup attempt.

Hungary has also delayed its approval, but the reasons why have not been made publicly clear.

Stoltenberg said that he would travel to Ankara 含羞草研究社渋n the near future to continue to address how we can ensure the fastest possible accession of Sweden.含羞草研究社�

A NATO diplomat said that Stoltenberg and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan could meet this weekend, on the sidelines of the Turkish leader含羞草研究社檚 inauguration. The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity as the precise details of the talks were not finalized.

含羞草研究社淢y message is that Sweden has delivered, and the time has come to ratify Sweden,含羞草研究社� Stoltenberg told reporters at the conclusion of two days of informal talks between alliance foreign ministers to prepare for the summit in Vilnius.

Others echoed his comments.

含羞草研究社淚t含羞草研究社檚 time for Sweden to join now,含羞草研究社� Norwegian Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt told reporters.

含羞草研究社淚含羞草研究社檓 confident that also Hungary will ratify the accession protocol,含羞草研究社� Stoltenberg said.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said it was 含羞草研究社渆ssential that we can finally welcome Sweden as the 32nd member.含羞草研究社� She stressed that the Swedish government had Berlin含羞草研究社檚 含羞草研究社渇ull support.含羞草研究社�

Sweden含羞草研究社檚 foreign minister, Tobias Billstr枚m, said that 含羞草研究社渋t is time for Turkey and Hungary to start the ratification of the Swedish membership to NATO.含羞草研究社� He said that 含羞草研究社渆verything (that) bars Sweden joining NATO will be seen as wine for (Russian president Vladimir) Putin.含羞草研究社�

But speaking to national media, Hungarian Foreign Minister P茅ter Szijj谩rt贸 said: 含羞草研究社淲e are not willing to accept any pressure. The Hungarian Parliament will decide on ratification in a sovereign manner, which the government will of course support.含羞草研究社�

For months, Sweden, Finland and Turkey held talks to try to address Ankara含羞草研究社檚 concerns. Billstr枚m said he expected things to be made clear at a new meeting of this 含羞草研究社減ermanent joint mechanism含羞草研究社� in coming weeks.

He noted that as of Thursday, Sweden had tightened its anti-terrorism laws. It is now it illegal to finance, recruit for or publicly encourage 含羞草研究社渁 terrorist organization,含羞草研究社� or to travel abroad with the intention of joining such groups.

The time may be ripe for movement. Sweden含羞草研究社檚 NATO membership became embroiled in campaigning for Turkey含羞草研究社檚 presidential and parliamentary elections last month. Erdogan won reelection in a runoff vote on Sunday. He also has been seeking upgraded U.S. fighter jets, and Washington signaled this week that they might be delivered.

含羞草研究社淚 spoke to Erdogan and he still wants to work on something on the F-16s. I told him we wanted a deal with Sweden. So let含羞草研究社檚 get that done,含羞草研究社� Biden said Monday.

On Tuesday, Blinken insisted that the issues of Sweden含羞草研究社檚 membership and the fighter jets were distinct. However, he stressed that the completion of both would dramatically strengthen European security.

含羞草研究社淏oth of these are vital, in our judgement, to European security,含羞草研究社� Blinken told reporters. 含羞草研究社淲e believe that both should go forward as quickly as possible; that is to say Sweden含羞草研究社檚 accession and moving forward on the F-16 package more broadly.含羞草研究社�

Matthew Lee And Lorne Cook, The Associated Press

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