Sweden's prime minister will meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday in a last-gasp attempt to bridge a diplomatic impasse over his Nordic state's stalled NATO membership drive.<br /><br />The high-stakes talks on the eve of an alliance summit in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius come with NATO keen to demonstrate unity in the face of Russia's war on Ukraine.<br /><br />NATO and the White House both fear the Kremlin is trying to use its strong ties with Turkey to seed divisions among Western allies.<br /><br />US President Joe Biden is expected to raise the issue when he meets Erdogan on the sidelines of the two-day event.<br /><br />Erdogan has voiced repeated frustrations with what he calls Sweden's failure to keep its promise to deal with suspected Kurdish militants allegedly "roaming the streets" of Stockholm.<br /><br />"Sweden has taken some steps in the right direction," Erdogan's office quoted the Turkish leader as telling Biden in a call Sunday.<br /><br />But Sweden's decision to allow pro-Kurdish groups to "hold demonstrations freely praising terrorism nullify those steps," Erdogan said.<br /><br />Erdogan's stance is being supported by Kremlin-friendly Hungarian Prime Minister Prime Minister Viktor Orban.<br /><br />The two countries remain the only NATO members still standing in the way of the unanimous ratification needed for Sweden to become the 32nd member of the US-led bloc.<br /><br />Hungary has strongly signalled it will follow Erdogan's lead and approve Sweden's membership should Turkey give its green light.<br /><br />NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg hopes to emerge from Monday's meeting between Erdogan and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson with a Turkish commitment of support.<br /><br />Analysts had hoped Erdogan would soften his stance after a hard-fought May election that he won by playing up his nationalist credentials to his conservative base.<br /><br />The dispute stems from a deal Turkey signed with Sweden and Finland after the neighbours ended decades of military non-alignment and sought shelter under the nuclear umbrella afforded by NATO after Russia invaded Ukraine.<br /><br />An agreement Stoltenberg finessed at last year's NATO summit committed Sweden and Finland to toughen their anti-terrorism legislation and hand suspected militants to Turkey.<br /><br />Erdogan harboured far fewer grievances against Finland and Helsinki was formally welcomed into the alliance on April 4.<br /><br />Sweden has since amended its legislation and also lifted an arms embargo it had imposed on Turkey after Erdogan launched a unilateral incursion into northern Syria in 2019.<br /><br />The Swedish government last month also agreed to extradite a man convicted of drug trafficking who had supported the pro-Kurdish PKK militia -- a first that Stoltenberg played up in public remarks last week..
