US President Donald Trump has said that he may lift sanctions against Turkey and allow it to purchase F-35 fighter jets if Ankara stops buying Russian oil. He said this during talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the White House, the Turkish leader’s first visit to Washington in six years.
This was reported by Reuters.
Trump emphasized that he wants to see Turkey abandon Russian oil, especially against the backdrop of Russia’s war against Ukraine. According to him, if the meeting is “good,” sanctions could be lifted “almost immediately.”
Erdogan, for his part, expressed hope for the resumption of defense cooperation with the United States, particularly in the field of F-35 and F-16 fighters. Washington is still preparing agreements on modernized F-16s, but the sale of F-35s is legally impossible as long as Turkey retains Russian S-400 air defense systems.
While the leaders’ positions coincide on Syria, where both countries support the central government, they remain in sharp conflict over Israel and its actions in Gaza.
In 2019, Turkey purchased S-400 air defense missile systems from Russia. The United States and NATO said that these systems were incompatible with alliance standards and could give Moscow access to classified data from the fifth generation of American F-35 fighters.
In response, the US administration imposed sanctions on Ankara and excluded Turkey from the F-35 production and procurement program. By that time, Turkey had invested billions of dollars in the program and was to receive more than 100 aircraft.
Since then, Washington has offered Turkey an alternative in the form of modernized F-16s, but the F-35 issue remained blocked until Ankara refused to operate the S-400.