president zelensky is accused nature of weakness and uncertainty over the reluctance of some members to set a timetable for ukraine to join the military alliance. nato leaders meeting in lithuania have agreed they can try but only when certain conditions are met. nato secretary general the sun has said the alliance has never sent a stronger political and practical message about partnership but made clear they could notjoin while it was still at war with russia. our europe editor katya adler sent this report from the summit in vilnius. disappointed, volodymyr zelensky put on a brave face today for supporters in the lithuanian capital. translation: i came here today believing in partners, in a nato that does not waste time. ukraine will make nato stronger. nato will make ukraine safer. a very different tone from his tweet earlier in the day, when he blasted the military alliance as absurd and weak for not agreeing a timetable for kyiv to join the club. as confirmed by nato s
in turkey, voting has closed in one of the most elections the country has seen. the country is deciding whether president erdohan remains in power after 20 years. it is expected to be a close race between him and an opposition leader kemal k l cdaroglu. he is a former civil servant who heads an alliance of six opposition parties, both secular and islamist. he promised to scrap many of the powers acquired by mr erdogan and return turkey to a parliamentary system. and also called for better relations with the west, including renewal of turkey s bid for membership of the eu. the current leader recep tayyip erdogan first came to power as prime minister in 2003 and became president in 2014. under him, turkey enjoyed strong economic growth, but it s been hit by high inflation, and the recent earthquakes in which tens of thousands died. he s also become increasingly authoritarian with more powers in the hands of the president and tighter restrictions on free speech. with most ballot
hello, i m sally bundock welcome to the programme. with almost all ballots counted in turkey s crucial general election, president recep tayyip erdogan has said he would accept a run off vote. officialfigures give mr erdoganjust under 50% of the counted ballots. his secular opposition rival, kemal kilicdaroglu, is on around 45%. if confirmed, it ll be the first time a challenger s taken mr erdogan to a second round in a presidential contest. the conservative leader, who has dominated turkish politics for two decades, told supporters in ankara he was confident he d still be president in two weeks time. mr kilicdaroglu, who has garnered support from secular turks and the young, has vowed to win the election in a second round, saying his rivalfailed to get a vote of confidence from the people. our international correspondent orla guerin is in ankara, and has more on what s at stake in this election. people talk excitedly a tense moment in a tight election. here in ankara, vot
hello, i m helena humphries. we begin in turkey, where a pivotal presidential election is heading down to the wire. with more than 91% of ballots counted, neither current president recep tayyip erdogan nor his fiercest rival kemal kilicdaroglu have cleared the threshold to win outright on sunday. the head of turkey s high election board said not long ago that mr erdogan was leading with 49.49% while kilicdaroglu had 4a.49% of votes. now, if neither can clear 50%, there will be a run off election. both candidates have said they would accept a potential run off vote, which would take place on may 28th. our international correspondent orla guerin is in ankara, and has more on what s at stake in this election. people talk excitedly a tense moment in a tight election. here in ankara, voters spotted two people in one polling booth. the police were called in. the ballot box matters in turkey, and the opposition are on the lookout for fraud. this is a pivotal vote which could mean th