Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday said for the first time that Ankara could approve Finland's NATO membership without its neighbor Sweden.

 Erdogan's comments were made during a televised meeting with young voters, AFP reports.

 They came days after Ankara suspended NATO accession talks with the two countries and ahead of Turkey's May 14 elections.

 Erdogan's main complaint is Sweden's refusal to extradite dozens of suspects Ankara has linked to Kurdish militants and a failed coup attempt in 2016.

 "If necessary, we can give a different answer regarding Finland. Sweden will be shocked when we give a different answer regarding Finland," Erdogan said.

 He also repeated his demand for Sweden to hand over the suspects wanted by Ankara.

 "If you really want to join NATO, you will return these terrorists to us," Erdogan said.

 Turkey's decision threatens to derail NATO's hopes of expanding the bloc to 32 countries at a summit scheduled for July in Vilnius.

 Finland and Sweden applied to join NATO in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Turkey and Hungary remain the only members that have so far ratified two applications in their parliaments.

 Hungary's legislature is expected to approve both applications in February.

 The standoff between Ankara and Stockholm prompted Finnish officials to hint for the first time that they may be forced to pursue NATO membership without Sweden.

 Meanwhile, Sweden hopes to join NATO in the summer, despite the suspension of talks with Turkey.