BRUSSELS: NATO chief Stoltenberg met with Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin in Washington this week and addressed "the need to address Turkey's concerns and move on" with the Finnish and Swedish membership applications, as per a tweet done on late Friday.

As part of his efforts to overcome Turkish opposition to Finland and Sweden joining NATO, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg visited Finland's Prime Minister and spoke with Turkey's President.

The Nordic countries were forced to join NATO by Russia's war in Ukraine, but Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accuses Sweden and Finland of backing Kurdish militants whom Turkey considers terrorists.

Stoltenberg called Erdogan a "valuable ally" and praised his efforts to secure a deal to assure the safe passage of grain supplies from Ukraine amid global food shortages caused by Russia's incursion. Stoltenberg said on Twitter that he and Erdogan would keep talking, but he didn't elaborate.

The NATO chief's diplomatic efforts come ahead of a meeting of top officials from Sweden, Finland, and Turkey in Brussels, where NATO is headquartered, next week to discuss Turkey's opposition to the applications.

Erdogan says, Turkey will not allow countries that sponsor terrorism to join NATO

Turkey wants 'formal agreement' to allow Finland and Sweden to join NATO

Ukraine receives 20,000 artillery rounds of NATO standard 155 mm ammunition from Canada