Trump, Turkey's Erdogan discuss F-35s, Russian oil

• Warmest ties in years between NATO nations with biggest armies.
• Turkish leader hopes to overcome sanctions for F-35s.
• Trump and Erdogan aligned on Syria — but not Israel.

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump suggested the US could lift sanctions on Turkey and allow it to buy US F-35 jets as he kicked off talks with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, but said he wanted Ankara to stop purchases of Russian oil.

Erdogan's first visit to the White House in about six years comes at a time when Ankara is keen to take advantage of a US administration eager to make deals in return for big-ticket arms and trade agreements.

Seated side by side in the Oval Office, Trump called Erdogan a "very tough man" and said he would like to see Turkey stop purchases of Russian oil.

Turkey, Hungary, and Slovakia are the main European purchasers of Russian oil and Trump is pressing for them to stop.

"I'd like to have him stop buying any oil from Russia while Russia continues this rampage against Ukraine," Trump said of Erdogan.

Asked whether he was willing to make a deal to sell F-35s to Turkey, Trump told reporters: "I think he'll be successful in buying the things that he wants to buy. "Trump also said he could lift sanctions against Turkey "very soon," and that "if we have a good meeting, almost immediately."

He said they would discuss the issue in their Oval Office talks followed by lunch.

Former president Joe Biden had kept Turkey at arm's length partly over what it saw as the fellow NATO member's close ties with Russia. Under Trump, who views Moscow more favorably and has closer personal ties with Erdogan, Ankara is hoping for a better relationship.

Trump and Erdogan — both seen as increasingly autocratic by their critics at home — had a checkered relationship during the Republican president's first term. But since his return to the White House, their interests have aligned on Syria — source of the biggest bilateral strain in the past — where the US and Turkey now both strongly back the central government.

They remain sharply at odds over US ally Israel's attacks on Gaza, which Ankara calls a genocide — a potential wild card in what are otherwise expected to be friendly and transactional talks in the Oval Office.

US sanctions block F-35 sales

The mood shift has renewed Turkish hopes that Trump and Erdogan, who have exchanged mutual praise, can find a way around US sanctions imposed by Trump himself in 2020 over Turkey's acquisition of Russian S-400 missile defenses.

That, in turn, could pave the way for Ankara to buy Lockheed Martin's advanced F-35 fighter jets, for which it was both a buyer and manufacturer until it was barred over the S-400s.

Erdogan has said the defense industry, including the topic of F-35s and ongoing negotiations over 40 F-16 jets Ankara also wants, would be a focus of the meeting, along with regional wars, energy and trade.

A US official said Washington had in recent days drafted a statement of intent — a document used to facilitate talks — for several sales to Turkey, including the new F-16s that would bolster its existing fleet.

Turkey asked for advanced equipment and modifications on the F-16s in their order, making the jets cost more than a standard F-35, the official said. But F-35s were omitted from the draft statement because the US cannot legally sell them while Turkey has the S-400s, the person added.

Turkish government officials did not immediately comment on the F-16 costs. Turkey, NATO's second-largest army, wants to ramp up air power to counter what it sees as growing threats in the Middle East, Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea, where it neighbours Russia and Ukraine.