WASHINGTON, May 29 (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden stated that in a name on Monday Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan repeated Ankara’s need to purchase F-16 fighter jets from the United States, whereas Biden responded that Washington was eager to see Ankara drop its objection to Sweden’s becoming a member of NATO.
The trade befell when Biden known as Erdogan to congratulate him on his victory in Turkey’s presidential election on Sunday.
“I spoke to Erdogan. I congratulated Erdogan. He still wants to work out something on the F-16s. I told him we wanted to deal with Sweden, so let’s get that done. And so we’ll be back in touch with one another,” Biden advised reporters earlier than departing the White House for Delaware.
“We’re going to talk more about it next week,” he added.
Bids for NATO membership have to be accredited by all NATO members. Both Turkey and Hungary have but to approve Sweden’s bid.
Turkey has sought to purchase $20 billion value of F-16s and practically 80 modernization kits from the United States, however the sale has been stalled as a result of objections from the U.S. Congress over Ankara’s problematic human rights file and Syria coverage, despite the fact that the Biden administration has repeatedly stated it helps the sale.
A a lot smaller $259 million bundle together with avionics software program upgrades for Turkey’s present fleet of F-16 fighter plane was cleared by U.S. Congress earlier this 12 months, days after Turkey ratified Finland’s NATO accession.
The Biden administration has repeatedly rejected any assertion of any “quid pro quo” between the sale and the NATO enlargement, though Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in January stated the U.S. facet made it clear that an approval of NATO bids could be considered positively by the Congress.
A bipartisan group of senators in a February letter to Biden stated Turkey’s failure to ratify the accession protocols for Sweden and Finland, which was nonetheless ready on the time, would “call into question this pending sale”, referring to the F-16s.
A supply acquainted with the discussions stated the United States had beforehand advised Turkey that it might be arduous to get Congress to approve the F-16 deal if Ankara does not inexperienced gentle Sweden.
Sweden and Finland utilized for NATO membership final 12 months, ditching long-held insurance policies of army non-alignment following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Turkey ratified Finland’s NATO accession in late March, however has continued to object to Sweden, saying Stockholm harbors members of militant teams it considers to be terrorists. Hungary has additionally not but accredited Sweden’s bid.
Seeing Sweden be part of NATO by mid-July when the alliance is because of maintain a leaders summit in Lithuania is among the many high priorities for Washington
The Turkish Presidency in a quick assertion on the decision between Biden and Erdogan stated the 2 leaders agreed to deepen cooperation on all facets of their bilateral ties, whose significance they stated has grown much more within the face of regional and international challenges.
Reporting By Steve Holland and Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by Leslie Adler and Chris Reese
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
