[1/2] NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg attends a news conference on the day of NATO defence ministers' meeting at the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium February 15, 2023.
REUTERS/Johanna GeronBRUSSELS, Feb 23 (Reuters) - NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday he saw progress in stalled talks with Turkey on Sweden's membership bid and aimed to have both Sweden and Finland join the alliance by the time of its July summit.
Ankara accuses Stockholm of harbouring what Turkey considers members of terrorist groups, and has demanded their extradition as a step towards giving Sweden's NATO membership its green light.
"So it's inconceivable that Finland or Sweden will face any military threats from Russia without NATO reacting."
He has repeatedly cited the post-Soviet enlargement of the NATO alliance eastwards toward his borders as a reason for what he called Russia's "special military operation" in Ukraine.