French President Emmanuel Macron in a telephone conversation with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for "respecting the sovereign choice" of Finland and Sweden to join NATO. The Elysee Palace said in a statement.

"The President of the Republic noted the importance of respecting the sovereign choice of these two countries, which was the result of a democratic process and a response to changes in their security environment. He hopes that discussions will continue in order to find an early solution," the statement said.

As a reminder, Turkey is blocking the consideration of Sweden and Finland's applications to join NATO.