Turkey will not block Finland and Sweden from joining NATO. The parties agreed to sign a memorandum to this effect.

This was announced by Finnish President Sauli Niiniste.

It is noted that today Turkey, Finland and Sweden held a meeting with the participation of NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.

"As a result of this meeting, our foreign ministers signed a trilateral memorandum confirming that Turkey will support the invitation of Finland and Sweden to become NATO members at the summit in Madrid this week," Niiniste said.

He said specific steps for Finland and Sweden to join the alliance will be discussed in the next two days.

He also noted that, according to the memorandum, Finland, Sweden and Turkey undertake to provide full support in combating threats to each other's security.

Earlier, Turkey blocked the consideration of Finland and Sweden's applications to join the North Atlantic Alliance. Ankara accused Stockholm and Helsinki of "supporting terrorists".