“We hope to see a more positive picture when the joint meeting is organised in Stockholm towards the end of the month,” Erdogan said, without specifying the date.

The Turkish leader added that he “sincerely wished” that Sweden joined the US-led military alliance.

“We understand their security concerns, and we want Sweden to respond to ours,” said Erdogan, who has blocked NATO membership bids from the Scandinavian nation and its neighbour Finland, accusing them of harbouring outlawed Kurdish militants.

Erdogan has demanded Finland and Sweden extradite members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which has battled against the Turkish state for decades and is considered a terrorist group by Ankara and its Western allies. Kristersson said “the watchword in Sweden is to fight terrorism” and described his meeting with Erdogan in Ankara as “very productive”.

Kristersson was hoping to persuade Turkey to drop its opposition to Sweden joining the US-led military alliance, with Ankara accusing Stockholm and Finland of harbouring outlawed Kurdish militants.

He described his meeting with Erdogan as “very productive”.

“Sweden will live up to all the obligations made to Turkey in countering the terrorist threat,” he said.

After Russia invaded Ukraine in February, the Nordic neighbours abandoned their long-held policy of non-alignment and applied to join NATO.

Erdogan — who is seeking re-election next year — is in a position of strength, having persuaded Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to stop blockading Ukraine’s grain exports.

Writing in Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet on Monday, Erdogan’s advisor Fahrettin Altun voiced “cautious optimism” that the new right-wing government in Stockholm would take “concrete measures” to meet Ankara’s concerns.

Turkey accuses Sweden in particularly of leniency towards the militant Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and its Syrian offshoot, the People’s Protection Units (YPG).

Ankara says it provided Sweden and Finland in June with a list of people it wanted extradited.

Since then, Sweden has authorised one extradition for fraud. Both Stockholm and Helsinki say that extradition decisions are made by the courts. The PKK is blacklisted by Ankara and most of its Western allies. But the YPG has been a key player in the US-led military alliance combatting the Islamic State group in Syria.

While Sweden has in the past voiced support for the YPG and its political wing, Kristersson’s government appears to be distancing itself.