Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday demanded that Nato complies with Ankara's conditions as he renewed his threat to "freeze" the bids of Sweden and Finland to join the military alliance.
During a Nato summit in Madrid at the end of June, Mr Erdogan accused the two countries of providing a haven for outlawed Kurdish militants and called on them to "do their part" in the fight against terrorism.
"I want to reiterate once again that we will freeze the process if these countries do not take the necessary steps to fulfil our conditions," he said on Monday, the eve of three-way summit with Russia and Iran.
"We particularly note that Sweden does not have a good image on this issue."
This month Nato began the accession procedures for Sweden and Finland after a deal was struck with Turkey, which had blocked them from joining.
Mr Erdogan has accused both countries of being havens for Kurdish militants, specifically the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) he has sought to defeat, and for promoting "terrorism".
In Washington, State Department spokesman Ned Price did not speak directly of Mr Erdogan's remarks but referred to Turkey's approval during the Nato summit to the new memberships.
"Turkey, Finland, Sweden — they signed a trilateral memorandum in Madrid to set this process in motion," Mr Price said.
"The United States will continue to work with those three countries to see to it that this accession process and ratification — here and around the world — is as swift and efficient as it can possibly be."
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US President Joe Biden speaks at a news conference on the final day of the Nato summit in Madrid. AP -
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson holds a news conference. PA -
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meets German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. AFP -
French President Emmanuel Macron speaks during the final day of the Nato summit. AP -
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and US President Joe Biden shake hands as Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson look on at a Nato summit in Madrid. Reuters -
Heads of state of Nato member countries and their spouses pose for a group photo during a visit to the Prado Museum, in Madrid. AFP -
French president Emmanuel Macron, right, and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis during the Prado Museum visit. AP -
Mr Biden takes a selfie with Maltese Prime Minister Robert Abela and his wife Lydia Abela as they visit the Prado Museum. AP -
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the first lady of France, Brigitte Macron, right, and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo's wife Annik Penders have a conversation at the museum. AP -
Spanish police stand in front of protesters during an anti-Nato demonstration near Tirso de Molina square in Madrid. AFP -
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appears on a giant screen as he delivers a statement at the start of the first plenary session of the Nato summit. AFP -
World leaders pose for a photo during the summit. Reuters -
US President Joe Biden, left, and Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. AP -
Maria Begona Gomez, wife of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, the first Lady of Lithuania, Diana Nausediene, first lady of Malta, Lydia Abela, and Gauthier Destenay, the husband of Luxembourg's Prime Minister, before a visit to the royal site of San Idelfonso in Segovia. EPA -
Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Jens Stoltenberg, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Finland's President Sauli Niinisto, Sweden's Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and Sweden's Foreign Minister Ann Linde pose for a picture after signing an agreement in Madrid. AP -
King Felipe VI of Spain addresses leaders during a dinner at the Royal Palace in Madrid. Reuters -
Mr Johnson meets Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. PA -
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen attend a reception at the Royal Palace in Madrid. AP -
Spain's King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia greet German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, right, during a royal reception for heads of governments and states. EPA -
King Felipe VI, left, Mr Sanchez, second left and Mr Macron before the dinner. AP -
Nato leaders pose for a 'family photo' with King Felipe and Queen Letizia in Madrid. Reuters -
Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, left, with Mr Biden and Mr Macron. EPA -
Mr Biden, left, and King Felipe arrive for a meeting at the Royal Palace in Madrid. Reuters -
Mr Johnson talks to journalists on his plane during a flight from Germany – where he was attending the G7 summit – to the Nato summit in the Spanish capital. PA -
Mr Erdogan, second left, meets Mr Stoltenberg, Mr Niinisto of Finland and Ms Andersson of Sweden before the summit. Reuters -
Mr Biden shakes hands with Prime Minister Sanchez of Spain at the Palace of Moncloa, in Madrid. AFP -
Mr Erdogan, centre, arrives at the Torreon air base in Madrid. AP -
Mr Sanchez, right, speaks with Mr Stoltenberg before the summit. EPA -
US first lady Jill Biden, centre left, and Spain's Queen Letizia speak with a family during a visit to a reception centre for Ukrainian refugees in Madrid. AP -
Spanish police patrol outside the Ifema convention centre before the Nato summit in Madrid. EPA -
Mr Sanchez and his New Zealand counterpart Jacinda Ardern hold the jerseys of their national football teams during a meeting at Moncloa Palace. EPA -
Finland's President Niinisto speaks during a briefing in Madrid before the Nato summit. Reuters -
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks to the media after arriving at Torrejon Airbase in Madrid. EPA -
Spanish police officers control traffic on the Spain-France border in Irun. Reuters -
Mr Stoltenberg speaks at a press conference to preview the Nato summit at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. AFP -
Spanish police use sniffer dogs to check a podium at the Ifema centre in Madrid. EPA -
US first lady Jill Biden waves on arrival at Torrejon air base in Madrid. Reuters
Mr Erdogan is due to board a plane to Tehran on Monday evening for talks on Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, from whom he hopes to receive approval for armed intervention in north-west Syria.
Ankara has been threatening since late May to launch an operation to create a 30-kilometre "security zone" along its border to tackle Kurdish fighters waging an insurgency against the Turkish state.
Tehran and Moscow have already expressed their opposition to such an offensive.
Russia, Turkey and Iran are all major players in the war that has ravaged Syria since 2011, with Moscow and Tehran supporting the regime of Bashar Al Assad and Ankara supporting rebels.
