Trump announces the lifting of some sanctions on Turkey and the potential sale of F-35s
Donald Trump, the President of the United States, announced on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara that Washington will lift the 2020 sanctions against Turkey, which were imposed due to the purchase of the S-400 defense system from Russia. He also mentioned the U.S.’s readiness to consider selling F-35 fighter jets to Turkey.
Trump said it is time to move on; we do not want to sanction our friends. He added that the U.S. Secretaries of State and Treasury are pursuing the process of lifting the sanctions and emphasized that he has no concerns about the deployment of the S-400 systems in Turkey.
The U.S. President described the relations between Washington and Ankara as better than ever and said Turkey has been more loyal in many areas than some other allies. Regarding the F-35s, he said it is the best aircraft, and we will certainly consider selling it.
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the President of Turkey, also expressed hope that the negotiations over the purchase of F-35 fighter jets will reach a conclusion and mentioned that the U.S. had previously promised to deliver five of these jets to Turkey.
The purchase of the S-400 system from Russia in 2019 led the United States to sanction Turkey in 2020 and remove the country from the F-35 fighter jet program, an action that became one of the major points of contention between the two NATO allies.
