Turkey told NATO that Sweden ratification could come before year-end, US official says

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told NATO counterparts on Tuesday he was working hard on Sweden's NATO ratification which is currently being debated by the Turkish parliament and provided a likely timeline of before year-end for the Nordic country to formally join the alliance, a senior State Department official said.

"I will say the summary of the meeting was it will be done before the end of the year," said the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

NATO foreign ministers met in Brussels. Some in the Western defense bloc had hoped Sweden's ratification would be completed by now for an accession ceremony to take place on the sidelines.

But last week Reuters reported that Turkey informed the alliance that the Nordic country's ratification would not be completed in time for Tuesday's meeting.

During Tuesday's meetings, Fidan told his NATO...