Stoltenberg To Attend Talks In Washington Amid Turkey Dilemma

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is scheduled to hold a series of talks in Washington today and tomorrow to discuss Turkey's ongoing opposition to the NATO membership bids of Sweden and Finland. The talks comes as Turkey's bilateral relationship with Greece continues to deteriorate, and the US warns of escalation in Syria.

• Stoltenberg will meet US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin, and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. Today at 12:45 ET 17:45 BST: Blinken and Stoltenberg joint presser at the State Department.
• US State Department Spox Ned Price said: '...nothing has shifted our confidence in the idea that NATO accession for Finland and Sweden has broad support within the NATO Alliance and that it can be fulfilled swiftly.'
• There is concern that June 29, the date of the Madrid NATO Leaders Summit and a potential target for membership ratification, is unlikely to be met.
• There is also growing alarm that Turkey's actions in Syria, and belligerence towards Greece, are threatening to undermine the stability of the alliance.
• Today has seen a further breakdown of Turco-Greek relations. Turkish foreign minister Mevlüt Cavusoglu again warned Greece of excessive military presence in the Aegean Sea and Turkish President Recep Erdogan also issued a threat to Athens over alleged hostile military installations: 'We are extremely serious, we are not bluffing,' and has advised his govt to cease bilateral talks with Greece.
• On Turkey's planned operation to created a demiliterised border zone with Syria, US State Department Spox Price said: 'We do expect Turkey to live up to the October 2019 joint statement, including to halt offensive operations in northeastern Syria... we are concerned that any new offensive would further undermine regional stability and would put at risk those hard-won gains in the campaign against ISIS.'
• Both Finland and Sweden have expressed concern about the 'grey period' between application and accession during which the two countries would be vulnerable to a Russian attack.
• There is unlikely to be a swift resolution to the impasse. Turkish independent news service Ahval writes: 'Erdogan has raised the stakes in a spat over Sweden and Finland's membership of NATO, linking his objections to his political survival.'