Kathmandu,

June29,

Finnish President Sauli Niinisto said on Tuesday that Turkey has agreed to support Finland and Sweden's NATO membership bids, removing a major hurdle to the two countries joining the alliance.

Niinisto said in a statement that a joint memorandum on the matter was signed by Turkey, Finland and Sweden on Tuesday in Madrid ahead of what is shaping up to be a critical summit.

The announcement came after Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, met for almost three hours with his Swedish and Finnish counterparts as NATO leaders gathered in Madrid.

Alarmed by Russia’s invasion, Finland and Sweden changed their decades-long stances of nonalignment and neutrality when they applied to become NATO members. But their bids were unexpectedly blocked by Erdogan.