Sweden and Finland have agreed with Turkey to continue trilateral talks over the two Nordic countries' bids to join NATO.

In the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Sweden and Finland abandoned their long-standing policy of being militarily neutral and applied for NATO membership.

Their applications need to be ratified by all 30 NATO members. Turkey has said it will agree to their accession to the alliance only after they drop their support for Kurdish militant groups that Ankara sees as terrorist organizations. It is urging the two countries to establish legal frameworks to hand over group members, among other conditions.

On Friday, the first three-way meeting took place in Finland to discuss the issue.

The Finnish Foreign Ministry says the participants agreed to continue negotiations to work out specific plans on the extradition of people wanted by Turkey.

Before the meeting, Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said there have been no handovers nor official responses so far from either country. He warned that there would be no progress in terms of their NATO membership if things remain as they are.