Ibrahim Kalin, the spokesman of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, second left, and Turkish delegation speak with Finnish delegation headed by Jukka Salovaara, the Foreign Ministry Undersecretary, third right, in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday, May 25, 2022. Senior officials from Sweden and Finland met with Turkish counterparts in Ankara on Wednesday in an effort to overcome Turkey's strong objections to the Nordic nations' bids to join NATO. Sweden and Finland submitted their written applications to join NATO last week.(Turkish Presidency via AP)
Ibrahim Kalin, the spokesman of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, welcomes Swedish State Secretary Oscar Stenstroem, before a meeting with their delegations, in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday, May 25, 2022. Senior officials from Sweden and Finland met with Turkish counterparts in Ankara on Wednesday in an effort to overcome Turkey's strong objections to the Nordic nations' bids to join NATO. Sweden and Finland submitted their written applications to join NATO last week.(Turkish Presidency via AP)
Ibrahim Kalin, the spokesman of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, fifth from left, and Turkish delegation, left, speak with Swedish delegation headed by State Secretary Oscar Stenstroem, third right, in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday, May 25, 2022. Senior officials from Sweden and Finland met with Turkish counterparts in Ankara on Wednesday in an effort to overcome Turkey's strong objections to the Nordic nations' bids to join NATO. Sweden and Finland submitted their written applications to join NATO last week.(Turkish Presidency via AP)
FILE - NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, right, greets Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as he arrives for a NATO summit at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Monday, June 14, 2021. (Kenzo Tribouillard, Pool via AP, File)
FILE - NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg displays documents as Sweden and Finland applied for membership in Brussels, Belgium, May 18, 2022. Delegations from Sweden and Finland were expected in Ankara, Turkey, for talks with Turkish officials on Wednesday, May 25, 2022, to try and overcome Turkey's objections to their NATO bids. (Johanna Geron, Pool via AP, file)
FILE - NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, center, participates in a media conference with Finland's Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, left, and Sweden's Foreign Minister Ann Linde, right, at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Monday, Jan. 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Olivier Matthys, File)
Ibrahim Kalin, the spokesman of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, second left, and Turkish delegation speak with Finnish delegation headed by Jukka Salovaara, the Foreign Ministry Undersecretary, third right, in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday, May 25, 2022. Senior officials from Sweden and Finland met with Turkish counterparts in Ankara on Wednesday in an effort to overcome Turkey's strong objections to the Nordic nations' bids to join NATO. Sweden and Finland submitted their written applications to join NATO last week.(Turkish Presidency via AP)

A senior Turkish official insisted after talks with Swedish and Finnish officials Wednesday that Turkey would not agree to the two Nordic countries joining NATO unless specific steps are taken to address Ankara's objections.

Ibrahim Kalin told a news conference after the talks in Ankara that the process will not progress if security concerns are not met with concrete steps.

Kalin is the spokesman for the Turkish president.

One of the biggest ramifications of Russia's war in Ukraine is that Sweden and Finland applied to join NATO last week.

Turkey does not want the countries to join the Western military alliance because of grievances with Sweden and the Kurds.

The PKK, which is listed as a terror organization by several of Turkey's allies, has waged a decades-long insurgency against Turkey that has cost the lives of tens of thousands of people.

The Turkish government accuses Sweden of imposing restrictions on arms exports to Turkey and refusing to extradite suspected terrorists.

Video: Biden applauds NATO plans.

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At a meeting at the White House with the leaders of Finland and Sweden, President Joe Biden offered his support for their efforts to join NATO. The inclusion of Nordic countries in NATO is not a threat to any nation.

Turkey's objections have made it hard for Sweden and Helsinki to join NATO quickly, as well as putting the trans-Atlantic alliance's credibility at stake. NATO members have to agree on admitting new members.

The Swedish and Finns met with Kalin and Onal. The Swedish delegation was led by state secretary Oscar Stenstrom, while the foreign ministry undersecretary was leading the Finns delegation, Turkish officials said.

Kalin said Turkey's proposal to lift arms export limits was met with a positive attitude by the Swedish and Finnish delegations.

Once the Nordic governments had responded to Turkey's demands, talks would continue.

Kalin said that there was no legal or judicial basis for extraditering the 28 terrorism suspects from Sweden and 12 from Finland. Turkish state media had previously said that Turkey wanted to extradite 33 people from the two countries.

The Prime Minister of Sweden said that her country wanted to clarify claims that have been floating around during discussions with Turkey.

We do not send money or weapons to terrorist organizations.

In these times, it's important to strengthen our security, said Andersson during a news conference with the prime minister.

She said that Sweden was eager to sort out issues and misunderstandings with Turkey.

It was a pivotal moment for Sweden, and we support your choices, saidMichel, who is scheduled to head to Helsinki from Stockholm.

Turkey this week listed five concrete assurances from Sweden, including the elimination of political support for terrorism.

The demands called for the lifting of sanctions against Turkey.

Turkey has requested the return of Kurdish militant and other suspects but hasn't received a positive response from Sweden. The Turkish government claimed that Sweden would provide $376 million to support the Kurdish militant group in 2023, and that it had provided them with military equipment.

According to the data from the justice ministry, the country has received nine requests from Turkey in the last three years. Two people were extradited while six others were turned down. There was a decision pending.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told the Council of the Baltic Sea States that Russia had decided to join NATO.

She said Germany would support the two countries' membership in the military alliance.

There is a problem.

The report was contributed by Andrew Wilks in Istanbul, Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, and Jari Tanner in Helsinki.

There is a

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