Sweden's foreign minister says NATO talks with Turkey progressing well

FILE PHOTO: Sweden’s Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom addresses a joint news conference with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Finland's Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto at the State Department in Washington, U.S., December 8, 2022. REUTERS/Amanda Andrade Rhodes/File Photo

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Talks between Sweden and Turkey are progressing well and Stockholm hopes Ankara will ratify the Nordic country's NATO application well before an alliance summit in July, Sweden's foreign minister said on Thursday.

Sweden and Finland applied in May to join NATO in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but ran into objections from Turkey which accused the Nordic countries of harbouring militants, including from the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).