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Delegations from Sweden, Finland Hold NATO Talks in Turkey

Flags of NATO member countries flap in the wind outside NATO headquarters, in Brussels, Wednesday, May 25, 2022. (AP)
Flags of NATO member countries flap in the wind outside NATO headquarters, in Brussels, Wednesday, May 25, 2022. (AP)
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Delegations from Sweden, Finland Hold NATO Talks in Turkey

Flags of NATO member countries flap in the wind outside NATO headquarters, in Brussels, Wednesday, May 25, 2022. (AP)
Flags of NATO member countries flap in the wind outside NATO headquarters, in Brussels, Wednesday, May 25, 2022. (AP)

Senior officials from Sweden and Finland held some five hours of talks with Turkish counterparts in Ankara on Wednesday in an effort to overcome Turkey’s strong objections to the Nordic nations' bids to join NATO.

Sweden and Finland submitted their written applications to join NATO last week. The move represents one of the biggest geopolitical ramifications of Russia’s war in Ukraine and could rewrite Europe’s security map.

Turkey has said it opposes the countries’ membership in the Western military alliance, citing grievances with Sweden's - and a to a lesser extent Finland’s - perceived support of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, and other entities that Turkey views as security threats.

The PKK, which is listed as a terror organization by several of Turkey’s allies, has waged a decades-long insurgency against Turkey, a conflict that has cost the lives of tens of thousands people.

The Turkish government also accuses Finland and Sweden of imposing arms exports restrictions on Turkey and refusing to extradite suspected "terrorists."

Turkey’s objections have dampened Stockholm's and Helsinki’s hopes for joining NATO quickly amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and put the trans-Atlantic alliance's credibility at stake. All 30 NATO members must agree on admitting new members.

The Swedish and Finnish delegations met with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman, Ibrahim Kalin, and Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal. The Swedish delegation was led by state secretary Oscar Stenstrom, while Jukka Salovaara, the foreign ministry undersecretary, headed up the Finnish delegation, Turkish officials said.

Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said following a meeting with European Council President Charles Michel in Stockholm that her country wanted to "clarify" claims that have been floating around during discussions with Turkey.

"We do not send money or weapons to terrorist organizations," Andersson said.

During a news conference with the Estonian prime minister later Wednesday, Andersson said that "in these times, it is important to strengthen our security."

She said Sweden has "a constructive dialogue" with Turkey and that Stockholm was "eager to sort out issues and misunderstandings and questions."

Michel, who is scheduled to head to Helsinki from Stockholm, said it was "a pivotal moment for Sweden" and "we fully support your choices."

Turkey this week listed five "concrete assurances" it was demanding from Sweden, including what it said was "termination of political support for terrorism," an "elimination of the source of terrorism financing," and the "cessation of arms support" to the banned PKK and a Syrian Kurdish group affiliated with it.

The demands also called for the lifting of arms sanctions against Turkey and global cooperation against terrorism.

Turkey said that it has requested the extradition of Kurdish militants and other suspects since 2017 but hasn’t received a positive response from Stockholm. The Turkish government claimed Sweden had decided to provide $376 million to support the Kurdish militants in 2023 and that it had provided them with military equipment, including anti-tank weapons and drones.

Finland has received nine extradition requests from Turkey in a recent period covering over three years, Finnish news agency STT said Wednesday, citing data from the Finnish justice ministry. Two people were extradited while six of the requests were rejected. A decision was pending regarding one other case.

Sweden has denied providing financial assistance or military support to Kurdish groups or entities in Syria.

"Sweden is a major humanitarian donor to the Syria crisis through global allocations to humanitarian actors," Foreign Minister Ann Linde told the Aftonbladet newspaper.

"Cooperation in northeastern Syria is carried out primarily through the United Nations and international organizations," she said. "Sweden doesn't provide targeted support to Syrian Kurds or to the political or military structures in northeastern Syria, but the population in these areas is, of course, taking part in these aid projects."

Speaking Tuesday before a meeting of the Council of the Baltic Sea States, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Russia had left Sweden and Finland "no choice" but to join NATO.

She said Germany would support the two countries’ membership, calling it "a real gain" for the military alliance.

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World

Five Facts About APEC with Trump, Putin and Xi Set to Attend

Workers install signage for the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) China 2026 summit on the wall of a building in Shenzhen, China's Guangdong province on November 12, 2026. (AFP)
Workers install signage for the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) China 2026 summit on the wall of a building in Shenzhen, China's Guangdong province on November 12, 2026. (AFP)
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Five Facts About APEC with Trump, Putin and Xi Set to Attend

Workers install signage for the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) China 2026 summit on the wall of a building in Shenzhen, China's Guangdong province on November 12, 2026. (AFP)
Workers install signage for the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) China 2026 summit on the wall of a building in Shenzhen, China's Guangdong province on November 12, 2026. (AFP)

Attention will focus next week ‌on a summit of US, Chinese and Russian leaders set for the 21-member gathering of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in China's southern technology hub of Shenzhen.

WHAT IS APEC?

Founded as an informal 12-member dialogue effort in 1989 in the Australian capital of Canberra, it has become the region's premier economic forum to foster ties on advancing growth, trade and investment.

Accounting for about 62% of global GDP and roughly half of global trade, the grouping of "member economies" rather than nations allows participation by Chinese-ruled Hong Kong and democratically governed Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own territory.

It does not include India, the world's most populous nation, however.

APEC operates on non-binding commitments reached strictly by consensus, with commitments undertaken on a voluntary basis.

The APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting is set for November 18 and 19, preceded by an annual summit of CEOs on November 17-18.

WHY SHENZHEN?

China is ‌hosting the summit ‌for the third time, after events in the commercial hub of Shanghai ‌in ⁠2001 and the ⁠capital, Beijing, in 2014.

Both domestic and international reasons govern the choice of Shenzhen, adjacent to the financial center of Hong Kong, said Chim Lee, senior analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit.

As part of China's Greater Bay Area home to Hong Kong and Macau, which Beijing seeks to establish as a global hub for technology and innovation, the city offers a platform to showcase China's vision for development and trade.

It also highlights Shenzhen's resilience to geopolitical turbulence, Lee added.

The city is the base of several leading Chinese auto and tech giants, such as BYD, ⁠Huawei and Tencent .

WHO WILL BE THERE?

China has said President Xi Jinping ‌will chair the leaders' meeting and deliver remarks. US President Donald ‌Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. are among those expected.

The leaders of Canada, Australia, Mexico ‌and Indonesia are also due to attend, along with those of Malaysia, South Korea and Vietnam among ‌Asia-Pacific nations.

Taiwan has designated Stan Shih, founder of Acer, as its envoy.

WHAT TO WATCH AND KEY STICKING POINTS

Middle East Instability: The economic ripple effects of conflict, such as risks to energy security, trade flows, supply chains and inflation are ‌major concerns expected to figure in talks.

Tripartite Dynamics: All eyes are on the possible meeting of Chinese, Russian and US leaders. China is hesitant to ⁠engage in talks on nuclear ⁠disarmament, as it has fewer such weapons than the other two, analysts said.

The US and Russia will also be keen to discuss the Ukraine war, but not necessarily China, they said.

China-US Relations: A key focus to see if ties can stay stable. Both sides are falling short on commitments to an extended trade truce, analysts said. Rare earth supplies, artificial intelligence and tariffs are also likely to figure on the agenda, with US arms sales to Taiwan closely watched.

China's ties with Japan and the Philippines: Strains in Japan and China ties have persisted since Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi angered Beijing in November 2025 by suggesting that Japan could deploy its military if a Chinese move against neighboring Taiwan also threatened its territory.

China-Philippines relations will likewise be closely watched amid continuing tension in the disputed waterway of the South China Sea.

WHO ARE APEC'S MEMBERS?

These are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.

World

Takaichi to Attend APEC in First China Trip as PM

Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi attends a ceremony for the exchange of signed documents at the Akasaka State Guest House in Tokyo, Japan, 09 November 2026. (EPA)
Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi attends a ceremony for the exchange of signed documents at the Akasaka State Guest House in Tokyo, Japan, 09 November 2026. (EPA)
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Takaichi to Attend APEC in First China Trip as PM

Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi attends a ceremony for the exchange of signed documents at the Akasaka State Guest House in Tokyo, Japan, 09 November 2026. (EPA)
Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi attends a ceremony for the exchange of signed documents at the Akasaka State Guest House in Tokyo, Japan, 09 November 2026. (EPA)

Japan said Friday that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi would visit China next week for the first time since she took office last year, attending an Asia-Pacific summit in Shenzhen.

The trip comes at a time of particularly fraught relations between the rival nations after Takaichi suggested in November last year that Japan may intervene in any attack on the island of Taiwan, which China claims as its territory.

"Prime Minister Takaichi is scheduled to visit the Philippines and China from November 16 to 19 to attend ASEAN-related summit meetings and the APEC summit," said deputy chief cabinet secretary Masanao Ozaki.

The visit to China will be her first since becoming prime minister in October last year.

Ozaki said that while at APEC, Takaichi will discuss issues such as "trade and investment, regional economic integration, economic and energy resilience, the digital economy... and present Japan's position on these matters".

But all eyes will be on any interaction with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Analysts say that a bilateral summit between the two leaders is very unlikely.

Multiple Japanese media reported that Tokyo had also asked Russia for a meeting with President Vladimir Putin at the gathering.

Relations between Tokyo and Moscow are at a low point after a Japanese journalist was arrested in Russia on spying allegations last month and assets belonging to Japan Tobacco were seized in the country.

Before the Shenzhen trip Takaichi will head to Manila for a meeting of the 11-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Ozaki said a Quad meeting -- including the leaders of Australia, India, Japan and the United States -- is being arranged on the sidelines of ASEAN.

China reacted furiously to Takaichi's comments on Taiwan, which came just weeks after she took office.

Beijing warned its citizens against travel to Japan and imposed trade restrictions that have reportedly led to big drops in supplies of vital rare earth minerals to Japanese firms.

Takaichi last month called China an "important neighbor" and pledged to build a stable relationship in a policy address.

But she added that Japan would also "firmly assert our country's positions" and "strongly call for responsible behavior".

While Beijing has refused to have ministerial talks with Takaichi's government, Xi sent a message of condolence to the family of former Japanese prime minister Yasuo Fukuda after he died last month, describing him "a longtime friend of the Chinese people".

In September, China's top diplomat Wang Yi said ties with Tokyo were "waiting to be normalized again" as he met former Japanese foreign minister Takeshi Iwaya, who was leading a trade delegation in Beijing.

World

Europe Pushes for Seat at Ukraine Peace Talks ‌but Lacks Unified Voice

A police officer inspects the site of a residential house damaged by a Russian military strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine November 13, 2026. (Reuters)
A police officer inspects the site of a residential house damaged by a Russian military strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine November 13, 2026. (Reuters)
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Europe Pushes for Seat at Ukraine Peace Talks ‌but Lacks Unified Voice

A police officer inspects the site of a residential house damaged by a Russian military strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine November 13, 2026. (Reuters)
A police officer inspects the site of a residential house damaged by a Russian military strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine November 13, 2026. (Reuters)

European nations are seeking an envoy to represent them in talks on ending the Russia-Ukraine war, concerned that a US-backed process will leave them sidelined and Kyiv vulnerable as Moscow and Washington decide the fate of a conflict that has roiled the continent.

Whether Europe should be represented by one person or a team — and who should take on the role — is being debated Friday as leaders from the 27-nation European Union meet at a summit in Dublin. Senior EU officials and politicians have been suggested, but there is not yet a consensus.

What the job might entail is also unclear and contested. But there is broad agreement by governments from the UK to Ukraine on the need for Europe to join the ongoing negotiations involving Moscow, Kyiv and Washington.

“This needs to be resolved," Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin said as he arrived at the summit, which will include talks on AI as well as the Russia-Ukraine war.

“I would hope that today’s discussions bring clarity around this,” he said. "It needs to be, in my view, finally decided upon within the next week or two.”

Ukraine is eager for support from its European allies, as it's reluctant to leave the talks solely in the hands of a US administration that has often seemed to lean toward Moscow’s views. Russia does not want European countries involved in direct negotiations, complaining they are financing and supplying Ukraine’s military effort.

European leaders also distrust US President Donald Trump to negotiate on their behalf after a series of tense standoffs over trade, Greenland and conflicts in Iran and Ukraine.

“Without Europeans, there is no support for Ukraine,” French President Emmanuel Macron said at a meeting of the European Political Community in Dublin on Thursday. “There is no more US support."

“At the end of the day, we will be the ones to define and decide for our future security as Europeans,” he said.

Europe is broadly aligned but not unified

European leaders fear Russian President Vladimir Putin will press Trump to back a peace settlement that weakens not just Ukraine but broader European security. Putin has demanded NATO troops be pulled back from Russia’s borders and that no European forces be deployed in Ukraine.

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham rejected the idea that Europe was being sidelined during peace negotiations, saying European countries were determined to “put a bit of a ring of steel around Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.”

As envoys from Washington, Moscow and Kyiv met in Abu Dhabi, several European countries, including the UK, France and Germany, attended discussions nearby.

US envoy Jared Kushner and Zelenskyy said after they met in Dublin late Thursday that Europe would be part of the next round of talks. Zelenskyy said Europe would send a negotiating team, adding, "They will have a voice.”

“We cannot conclude this deal without the Europeans being at the table,” Kushner said. He said Putin "is willing to give it a try.”

Supporters of a single envoy, like Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, argue that the absence of a united European voice has allowed individual countries or small groups to engage in freelance diplomacy.

“There are too many different groupings discussing the issue,” she said.

Meloni has criticized a series of seemingly uncoordinated initiatives, including a call to Putin by Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, that she said could undermine European interests.

She has increasingly pushed for a common EU representative for Europe to speak with “a single, authoritative voice” and requested a decision by Friday in Dublin to be formalized in December in coordination with non-EU partners in Europe like Britain and Norway.

Martin said that European representation at the negotiations “can't just be European Union” because the Coalition of the Willing — a group of over two dozen countries that have pledged military support to help maintain a future peace in Ukraine — “has involved far more than the European Union.”

“It's a European continentwide issue,” he said.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov argued that for Europe to join peace talks, it first must name a representative. “The Europeans squabble like spiders in a jar. If someone takes the initiative to establish contact with the Russian side, those people face ostracism.”

An old question with no clear answer

The question of who represents Europe is an old one. Europe itself is loosely defined. Is it the 27-nation EU, the 32-nation NATO military alliance made up mostly of European countries, the 29-nation Schengen zone, or the 47-nation European Political Community?

That has frustrated Washington in the past and present.

After this week's US-brokered talks between Ukraine and Russia in the United Arab Emirates, Kushner said that “if Europe could identify one person to speak on their behalf, that would be a bigger achievement than getting the Russians to include them in the negotiation.”

That echoes the famous question often mis-attributed to former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger: “Who do I call if I want to call Europe?”

Potential candidates from within the EU France, Germany and the UK, the region’s top three economies collectively known as the European trio or E3, have so far been the most engaged European body in negotiations. But while London is deeply involved with Ukraine, the UK left the EU in 2020.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Thursday that the E3 is “a proven format” for diplomacy.

But an E3 envoy would leave out the other 25 EU nations and rankle smaller nations like those that border Russia and Belarus on the bloc’s “eastern flank,” which face constant hybrid threats, including influence campaigns and disruptive drones.

Some back a top EU official for the job. Even inside Brussels, however, there are two leading contenders: European Council President Antonio Costa and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas.

Costa's current role is to represent national leaders. A former prime minister of Portugal, he spent much of the past year visiting capitals across the bloc.

“European security cannot be discussed without a European voice at the table,” Costa said in Dublin on Thursday. “That European voice needs to be a team effort between European nations, the European Union and NATO.”

But earlier this year, Costa faced criticism within the EU after his office set up a hush-hush back-channel with Moscow.

Kallas, a former prime minister of Estonia, could also lay claim to the envoy role.

She said in Dublin that the E3 represents the “big countries” but then asked “who is representing the European Union?"

"Americans are representing American interests. Europeans are representing European interests,” Kallas said, adding that the EU’s foundational treaties are “very, very clear” that she and Costa were appointed in 2024 to represent the bloc in “security matters.”

Kallas, however, has had a bumpy track record with US diplomats as Washington and Brussels sparred over trade and Ukraine. She's also acknowledged tensions between her office, the EU's External Action Service, and the European Commission.

Another name that has been floated is Stubb, the Finnish president. He has warm relations with Trump and met in Oslo with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Kushner in October. A week after that, he called Putin with Støre, the Norwegian prime minister. Stubb spoke with Zelenskyy by phone on Tuesday.

But some leaders deeply distrust the US-brokered talks. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk was critical of the negotiations, reflecting a regional pessimism among EU countries formerly dominated by the Soviet Union.

“In my opinion, calling them negotiations is an exaggeration," Tusk said Thursday. “We will not build a new security architecture simply because the Russian president, or someone in the United States, wishes it."