The national Security advisers of the United States and Turkey held a telephone conversation

Jake Sullivan and Ibrahim Kalin discussed the situation in Ukraine, as well as the accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO.

The U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan held a telephone conversation with Ibrahim Kalin, the press secretary and chief adviser to the Turkish president. This is stated in the statement of the White House.

“The parties discussed their continued support for Ukraine in the face of ongoing Russian aggression, as well as relevant efforts to ensure the entry of Ukrainian agricultural exports to world markets,” the White House said in a statement.

Sullivan expressed support for Turkey’s ongoing direct negotiations with Sweden and Finland to resolve problems related to their NATO membership applications, which the United States supports.

In turn, the statement of the Turkish side says that Kalin, during a conversation with Sullivan, said that countries wishing to join NATO should “learn the values and principles of the alliance in the field of security and the fight against terrorism.”

“It was stressed that Sweden and Finland need to take concrete steps against terrorist organizations that threaten Turkey’s national security,” Ankara added.

Turkey objects to Sweden and Finland joining the defense alliance on the grounds that they are harboring people associated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party and others whom Ankara considers terrorists, and also because Finland and Sweden stopped exporting weapons to Turkey in 2019.

Sweden and Finland have stated that they condemn terrorism and are open to dialogue.

Erdogan said in comments published in The Economist on Monday that Turkey’s commitment to NATO has not changed, and urged allies to focus their efforts on “persuading” candidate countries.

“The uncompromising desire of Sweden and Finland to join the alliance has added an unnecessary item to the NATO agenda,” he said. “Any country that does not want to fight terrorism cannot tell Ankara what to do.”

Sullivan also “reaffirmed the importance of refraining from escalation in Syria in order to preserve the existing ceasefire lines and avoid further destabilization,” the White House said in a statement.