US president Donald Trump pressed Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan to stop buying oil from Russia and left the door open to Ankara obtaining F-35 fighter jets, as the leaders discussed trade and geopolitical flashpoints.
“I’d like to have him stop buying any oil from Russia while Russia continues this rampage against Ukraine,” Mr Trump said Thursday alongside Mr Erdogan in the Oval Office.
Mr Trump’s comments mark the latest example of him pressuring US partners to cut back on Russian energy purchases, in an effort to squeeze financing for the Kremlin’s war effort in Ukraine. The president this week said he believed Kyiv could achieve victory against Moscow, another effort to apply pressure to Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Mr Erdogan’s visit to the White House – his first time in six years – presents an opportunity for the US and Turkey to reset relations as the two Nato allies navigate a web of defence deals, regional conflicts and competition with Russia and China.
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The president said he would discuss Mr Erdogan’s desire to rejoin the F-35 fighter programme, but did not commit to letting Ankara back in. Mr Trump said, however, if he had a good meeting with his Turkish counterpart that sanctions on officials there could be lifted “almost immediately.”
He said that a conclusion could be reached by the end of the day.
“I think he’ll be successful with buying the things he’d like to buy,” Mr Trump said. “He needs certain things and we need certain things.”
The two countries have been locked in a long-running dispute over Lockheed Martin Corp’s F-35 stealth jet programme. Turkey was an original partner in developing Lockheed’s most advanced warplane but was kicked out of the programme after buying Russia’s S-400 air defence system. That purchase resulted in congressional sanctions that targeted the Turkey’s defence industry and still remain in place.
Mr Trump recently indicated there was a chance to resolve that dispute. Ankara has refused to abandon the S-400s, as Washington demands, but hopes a compromise over their deployment could reopen the door to purchasing 40 F-35s. The US president said on Thursday he would discuss with Mr Erdogan purchases of the Patriot missile-defence system, a US alternative to the S-400s.
The two presidents have had a fraught relationship in the past – marked by an uneasy White House meeting in November 2019 during Mr Trump’s first term – but both Ankara and Washington have much to gain from improving relations.
Turkey depends on US military and diplomatic backing, and its commitment to the alliance is widely viewed as a barometer for the outlook of a major Middle Eastern economy.
Repairing some of the long-standing rifts between the countries could also be crucial to strengthening Nato as the alliance faces new challenges from a newly emboldened Russia and with Mr Trump looking to ease Middle East tensions stoked by Israel’s war on Hamas. – Bloomberg
