Jens Stoltenberg

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has agreed to forward to parliament Sweden's bid to join the NATO military alliance, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday, on the eve of a NATO summit in Vilnius.

Türkiye has demanded the resumption of the full membership talks with the European Union to consider the accession of Sweden into NATO, a day before the critical alliance's leaders' summit in Vilnius.

The Lithuanian capital has been turned into a real fortress because of the two-day meeting between leaders of the NATO countries starting on Tuesday. Vilnius is located just 30 kilometers from Lithuania's border with Belarus and less than 200 kilometers from Russia.

This was stated by the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Maria Zakharova.

NATO allies have reached agreement to raise the alliance's target for military spending to at least 2% of national GDP, two diplomats told Reuters late on Friday.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has urged Sweden once again to uphold its promises in the fight against terrorism as the Nordic country pursues NATO membership.

This was stated by the president of the Parliamentary Committee for Kosovo, Milovan Drecun, for RTS, adding that there is no indication that Pristina will give up unilateral moves.

Sweden failed on Thursday to convince Turkey to lift its block on Stockholm's path to NATO membership, and the issue will now go to a meeting of the Turkish and Swedish leaders next week.

Senior officials from Sweden and Turkey arrived at NATO headquarters Thursday to examine Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's objections to the Nordic country joining the military alliance and to see what more, if anything, could be done to break the deadlock.

BELGRADE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Thursday Serbia would request that an urgent UN Security Council session be called over threats to the lives and safety of Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija.