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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said before leaving for today's NATO summit in Madrid that he had a telephone conversation with US President Joe Biden this morning and that he intended to meet with him on the sidelines of the meeting, Reuters reported.

He said he wanted to discuss with him the "blocking" by Washington of Ankara's request to buy new F-16 aircraft.

Erdogan added that he had asked Biden to meet today or tomorrow.

The White House confirmed today that US President Joe Biden will meet with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan during a NATO meeting this week in Madrid, where the alliance will discuss the consequences of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Reuters reported.

The leaders of the Madrid summit will also take "historic decisions to strengthen the alliance's collective defense and security," the White House said in a statement.

Erdogan meets with the leaders of Sweden and Finland before the NATO summit

With regard to Sweden and Finland, whose NATO bids have been blocked by Turkey, Erdogan said that if the two countries want to join the alliance, they must take into account Turkey's concerns.

Erdogan said he "does not want words, but rather results" from Sweden and Finland.

Erdogan accuses the two countries of backing the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) and the Syrian-based Kurdish militia, the People's Protection Force (PZN), which Ankara classifies as terrorist groups.

Sweden and Finland deny the allegations.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan

NATO membership