All news

Biden traded IMF aid for Turkish consent to Sweden’s NATO membership — journalist

"Biden had to have a victory and Turkey is in acute financial stress," the journalist quoted "an official with direct knowledge of the transaction" as saying

NEW YORK, July 14. /TASS/. US President Joe Biden reportedly pledged to provide Turkey with International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s financial aid worth $11-13 billion in exchange for Ankara’s consent to granting NATO membership to Sweden, American journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner Seymour Hersh reported, citing anonymous sources.

An article, posted by Hersh on his website, says that "Biden promised that a much-needed $11-13 billion line of credit would be extended to Turkey by the International Monetary Fund."

"Biden had to have a victory and Turkey is in acute financial stress," the journalist quoted "an official with direct knowledge of the transaction" as saying.

An agreement between Stockholm and Ankara was brokered at a meeting between Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, chaired by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on the sidelines of the bloc’s summit in Vilnius on Monday. According to the agreement, Turkey will launch a process to ratify Sweden’s NATO bid. The six-point document says that Sweden has made the necessary amendments to its legislation, stepped up the fight against terrorist aspects of the activities of the Kurdistan Workers Party and resumed military exports to Turkey. Those were the goals that were set at a NATO summit in Madrid last year.