Turkey could ratify Finland's bid to join Nato even before Sweden takes steps towards addressing Turkey's security-related demands, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Monday morning.
"We do not have to follow the same procedure as with Sweden in accepting Finland's membership of Nato," Cavusoglu said during a joint press conference alongside US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken.
Blinken stressed the importance of Finland and Sweden joining the military alliance.
"We strongly support their admission as quickly as possible," he said, adding that "we are confident that Nato will formally welcome them in soon, and when that happens, it will enhance the security of every Nato member, including the United States, including Turkey."
Blinken went to Turkey to hold talks with Cavusoglu, as well as the country's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, later on Monday.
Apart from Finland and Sweden's Nato applications, discussions were to centre on US support to help Turkey in the aftermath of devastating earthquakes that ravaged the country two weeks ago. As of this weekend, the quakes had claimed a total of at least 46,000 lives.
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