President Donald J. Trump affirmed this Tuesday that Washington will consider the sale of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey, after having excluded it from the program in 2019, because Ankara had acquired a Russian air defense system.
“That is a decision that we are going to make (…) it is a great plane, the best plane by far, and it is certainly something that we are going to consider,” Trump declared alongside his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, after arriving in Ankara for a NATO summit scheduled for this Tuesday and Wednesday.
Turkey has long been trying to resolve the issue of its readmission into the F-35 program and the lifting of US sanctions under a law, two issues that have soured relations and hampered Turkish defense projects.
When Trump and Erdogan met at the White House last September, the two leaders expressed their desire to settle the issue, although lifting sanctions is a decision that falls to Congress.
Asked if he would lift the sanctions, Trump responded: “We’re going to lift the sanctions.” “We don’t want to punish our friends,” he added.
Along with him, Erdogan stated that he was confident that Trump would resolve the matter and end the dispute.
“Trump has also personally given us his word on the matter,” he said.
“In this matter, Trump always keeps his word,” added the Turkish president, who said he believed that “a favorable decision on the F-35s” will emerge from this summit.
