• Kim also emphasised the significance of efforts to improve the frontline units’ operational capabilities.
• The conference is being eagerly monitored because it might reveal when the North will conduct its alleged weeks-long preparation for a nuclear test.
• According to South Korean sources, Kim would choose the time of the test, which might occur “at any time.

The chief representative for Europe at the State Department expressed optimism on Wednesday that Turkey, Finland, and Sweden’s disagreements over the two Nordic nations’ applications to join NATO would soon be resolved favourably.

Washington acknowledged that the meetings between the parties earlier this week had been fruitful, according to Karen Donfried, assistant secretary for Europe and Eurasian affairs, who was speaking before a Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) hearing.

“We are confident that this will be resolved in a positive way. There is broad and deep support across the NATO alliance for Finnish and Swedish accession,” she said.

In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Finland and Sweden applied to join NATO. Turkey, meanwhile, has opposed the bids, claiming that Helsinki and Stockholm have supported Kurdish insurgents and placed arms embargoes on Ankara.

On June 29–30, NATO’s top brass will meet in Madrid. All 30 NATO countries must consent before joining the organisation. Turkey has been a member of NATO for more than 70 years and has the second-largest army in the organisation.

When asked if she thought that everyone would be in agreement by the Madrid summit the following week, Donfried responded, “I will say that we’re certainly pushing for that.”

Senior Turkish officials did not convey the same feeling of urgency as Donfried when speaking to reporters in Brussels earlier this week following their meetings with high-ranking representatives from Sweden, Finland, and NATO. They also stated that the NATO summit was not a deadline.

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