Sweden's Nato bid languishes as Turkey holds out in standoff with US

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson speak to the media after talks at the presidential palace in Ankara, Turkey, on 8 November 2022. © AP / Burhan Ozbilici

Swedish hopes of early Nato membership are fading as Turkey continues to hold up Sweden's bid as part of a standoff with the United States.

In July, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson declared he had secured Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's support for Sweden's membership bid at the Nato summit in Vilnius and that ratification would follow shortly.