General Jens Stoltenberg met Finland's prime minister and spoke to Turkey's president as he seeks to overcome Ankara's opposition to Finland and Sweden joining the alliance.
Stoltenberg, who visited Washington this week, tweeted late on June 3 that he had met with Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin while there and discussed "the need to address Turkey's concerns and move forward" on Finland and Sweden's demands for membership.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine prompted Finland and Sweden to apply for NATO membership. However, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he was against the two Nordic countries' accession because of what he said was their support for "terrorist organizations", referring to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in Syria.
In a separate tweet, Stoltenberg said he had a "constructive phone conversation" with Erdogan. He called Turkey a "valued ally" and praised Turkey's efforts to broker a deal to ensure the safe transport of grain supplies from Ukraine amid global food shortages caused by the war.
Stoltenberg added that he and Erdogan will continue the dialogue.
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