Negotiations on applications by Finland and Sweden to join NATO and Turkey’s concerns will continue beyond a key NATO summit in Madrid on June 29, according to Turkish Presidential Spokesman

"The Madrid NATO summit is not the deadline, so our negotiations will continue," Turkish Presidential Spokesman Ibrahim Kalin told journalists on Monday.

Kalin's comments, following a meeting in Brussels, came after Finland's Prime Minister Sanna Marin admitted the Nordic bids could stall if an agreement with Turkey is not reached before next week’s summit.

Sweden and Finland applied to join NATO in May ending decades of military non-alignment in the wake of Russia launching a special military operation in Ukraine in late February.

Turkey previously said it would block their membership and accused the two Nordic countries of harboring the outlawed Kurdistan Workers'Party (PKK), which is designated as a "terrorist" group by Ankara and its Western allies, as well as other Kurdish groups in Syria.

Any NATO membership deal must be unanimously approved by all 30 members of the military alliance.

Last week, Ankara said It was willing to delay Sweden and Finland's membership of NATO for more than a year unless it received adequate assurances that the two countries were willing to address support for the Kurdish groups.

(With input from agencies)