White House says Biden, Erdogan will hold bilateral meeting at NATO Summit in June

U.S. president Joe Biden and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday agreed to hold an exclusive meeting this summer at the 29th NATO Summit to discuss the mutual and respective interests of the two countries. 

The White House on Friday revealed that Biden spoke with Erdogan for the first time today since Biden's taking office, with the U.S. president "conveying his interest in a constructive bilateral relationship with expanded areas of cooperation and effective management of disagreements."

"The leaders agreed to hold a bilateral meeting on the margins of the NATO Summit in June to discuss the full range of bilateral and regional issues," the White House said. 

The New York Times and other news outlets, according to The Hill, have reported that “Biden is expected to issue a formal declaration stating that the killings of Armenians during World War I was a genocide, a move that is likely to exacerbate tensions with Turkey, a NATO ally.”

The NATO Summit will take place on June 14 in Brussels.