Sweden's center-right government will fulfil all requirements under a deal with Turkey to join NATO and will concentrate external relations to its immediate neighbourhood while dropping the previous administration's feminist foreign policy," the country's top diplomat said on Monday. Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrm said the new government shares Turkey's concern about the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which is considered a terrorist organisation in Turkey, Europe and the United States. There will be no nonsense from the Swedish government when it comes to the PKK, Billstrm told the Associated Press in an interview. We are fully behind a policy which means that terrorist organisations don't have a right to function on Swedish territory. Turkey stalled Sweden and Finland's historic bid to join NATO over concerns that the two countries - Sweden in particular - had become a safe haven for members of the PKK and affiliated groups. Under a memorandum of understanding signed by Swed
Ukraine will push for still more advanced weaponry when the US convenes a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Brussels today to marshal new support for hardware and supplies
Would-be NATO member Sweden on Friday announced it will allow exports of arms to Turkey, which had threatened to block the Scandinavian nation's application to join the 30-member defence alliance. The decision means that Sweden, which has sought NATO membership along with neighbouring Finland, will lift an arms embargo it had imposed on Ankara in 2019 after Turkey's military operation against the Kurdish militia known as the YPG in Syria. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had threatened to block the Nordic pair's membership, insisting they change their stance on Kurdish rebel groups that Turkey considers terrorists and lift the arms embargo on Turkey. NATO operates by consensus so Turkey needs to approve. Sweden's application for membership in NATO greatly strengthens the defence and security policy reasons for granting the export of military equipment to other member states, including Turkey, the Inspectorate for Strategic Products, a Swedish administrative authority, said in
The ministers from the club of wealthy industrial democracies confirmed their commitment to the plan after a virtual meeting
"In seeking to join NATO, Finland and Sweden are making a sacred commitment that an attack against one is an attack against all," Biden said at the signing
The 11-nation partnership to secure critical mineral supplies has the potential to influence future investments and trade flows in energy
The Kremlin's main pillar of financial revenue oil has kept the Russian economy afloat despite export bans, sanctions and the freezing of central bank assets
China launched a scathing attack on the US and NATO on Wednesday, days before a meeting between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
China spent $18.9 billion on Russian oil, gas and coal in the three months to the end of May, almost double the amount a year earlier, latest customs data show
Ukrainian fighters have spent weeks trying to defend the city of Lysychansk, and to keep it from falling to Russia, as neighbouring Sievierodonetsk did a week ago
NATO leaders agreed to strengthen the alliance's forward defenses, enhance the bloc's battlegroups on its eastern flank and increase the number of high readiness forces to more than 300,000
The NATO Alliance is proud to invite Finland and Sweden to become members, tweeted Biden
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy chided NATO for not embracing his embattled country more fully and asked for more weapons to fight Russia's invasion, as the leaders of the alliance met
Stoltenberg said NATO allies meet in the midst of the most serious security crisis we have faced, as he arrived at the alliance's summit in Madrid
South Korea is not a member of NATO but was invited to the summit along with Japan, Australia and New Zealand as the organisation's Asia-Pacific partners
I am pleased to announce that we now have an agreement that enables Sweden and Finland's membership in NATO: Stoltenberg
For the first time, the leaders of Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand will all attend a 30-member NATO Summit
NATO leaders are aiming to increase support for Ukraine's fight against Russian invasion, boost forces on NATO's eastern flank and set priorities for the coming decade
The chief aim of the NATO summit is to send a message of unity in line with democracy, security, international order, based on rules that, unfortunately, Putin has blown to smithereens
'We will not recognise Russia's continued attempts to re-draw borders by force,' said G7 leaders