WASHINGTON, May 20 (Reuters) – Turkey’s stance on NATO’s accession process for Sweden and Finland is not a bilateral issue between Washington and Ankara, the US State Department said on Friday, but added that Washington spoke with Ankara and that they are still convinced that the dispute would be overcome.

Finland and Sweden say they have been urged to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, which turns generations of military alliance free to bring about the biggest European security upheaval in decades.

Turkey surprised NATO allies last week by protesting the measure and pressuring Sweden to stop supporting Kurdish militants it considers part of a terrorist group. It pressured both Sweden and Finland to lift their bans on certain arms sales to Turkey.

Although the problem is officially between Sweden, Finland and Turkey, many analysts have said that Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan may be aiming to use this moment to force Washington to act on some of the long-standing issues that have weighed on bilateral ties between the two NATO . allies.

These issues include ending US support for the Kurdish militia in Syria, which Ankara sees as terrorists, lifting the US sanctions imposed after Ankara’s purchase of the Russian defense system S-400 and potentially accelerating Ankara’s request to buy the F-16. .

“The issue of Turkey’s attitude to Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO accession is not a bilateral issue between the United States and Turkey,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Ned Price said in a telephone conversation.

His comments are similar to those of US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, who told reporters on Thursday, “this is not an American issue,” but added that Washington wanted to see it resolved and that they were ready to take action to be supportive. .

Western leaders have expressed confidence that Ankara’s objections will not constitute a roadblock to the Nordic countries’ NATO accession process without specifying how Turkey’s position can be changed.

“For its part, Finland, Sweden are working directly with Turkey, but we are also talking to Turkey on this issue,” Price said, but gave no further details about the talks other than saying Foreign Minister Antony Blinken and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu had held a ” good, constructive “conversation on Wednesday in New York.

“We remain convinced that Turkey’s concerns will be addressed and that we will be able to reach a consensus as an alliance on the accession process for Finland and Sweden,” Price added.

Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk in Washington Editing by Matthew Lewis

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