UPDATE - Turkish president meets British premier at NATO summit

UPDATES WITH STATEMENT FRON DOWNING STREET

By Karim El-Bar

LONDON (AA) - A closed-door meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson took place on Monday during the ongoing NATO summit in Brussels.

Besides Johnson, Erdogan met with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The Turkish leader is due to meet numerous other world leaders during the summit, including US President Joe Biden.

Erdogan and Johnson discussed the fight against coronavirus as well as the vaccine rollout in their countries.

A Downing Street statement said: “They agreed on the importance of working together to defeat the pandemic and work towards the resumption of travel between the UK and Turkey.”

The two leaders also discussed trade and defense.

“The Prime Minister welcomed the de-escalation of tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean and stressed the importance of reaching a settlement in Cyprus through the UN-led process,” the British government statement added.

The two leaders also discussed foreign policy issues including Syria, Libya and Afghanistan.