NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday sought to underscore the alliance's appreciation of Turkey as an "important ally." He offered the conciliatory words to Ankara ahead of a planned gathering of senior officials from Sweden, Finland and Turkey in Brussels next week to discuss Turkey's opposition to Nordic countries joining defense alliance.
Stoltenberg made comments to reporters after meeting with President Joe Biden and White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan at White House for what was billed as preparatory talks for Madrid NATO Summit to be held this month.
Stoltenberg said he discussed Sweden and Finland's application to join NATO with Biden and Sullivan and expressed confidence that the alliance would find a path to addressing Ankara's concerns. But Stoltenberg also seemed to go out of his way to note Turkey's value to the alliance.