Washington, Sep 25 (EFE). – United States President Donald Trump said Thursday during a meeting in Washington with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, that he would like Turkey to “stop buying oil” from Russia in order to stop supporting its war against Ukraine.
“I’d like to have him stop buying any oil from Russia, while Russia continues this rampage against Ukraine,” Trump told the media in the Oval Office at the start of the bilateral meeting.
The press also asked Trump about the possibility of Erdoğan mediating to bring the presidents of Russia and Ukraine, Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to the negotiating table to achieve a ceasefire.
“I can tell you that President Erdoğan is very respected by both of them– everybody respects Erdoğan,” Trump told reporters.
“I do, and I think he could have a big influence if he wants to,” he added.
The US president reiterated that Putin “must stop” his military campaign in Ukraine and that he is “very disappointed” with the Russian president.
“I’m very disappointed in Putin,” Trump said.
“He’s been fighting hard, he’s been fighting long, and they lost millions. They lost like a million soldiers. And you know, they’ve with all of the heavy bombardment over the last two weeks, they’ve gained almost no land,” he added.
Sanction lifting
Trump and Erdoğan also addressed on Thursday the possibility of lifting sanctions preventing Turkey from acquiring US-made F-35 fighter jets.
“It could be very soon. If we have a good meeting, almost immediately,” Trump told reporters at the start of the meeting.
During his first term (2017-2021), Trump imposed sanctions on Turkey that prohibited it from participating in the F-35 program in retaliation for the purchase of Russian air defense systems.
“I think he’ll be successful in buying the things that he wants to buy,” Trump added.
“I know he wants the F-35 and he’s wanted that, and we’re talking about that very seriously (…) He needs certain things, and we need certain things. And we’re going to come to a conclusion,” he said
“We have an opportunity here today to be able to discuss some of the issues regarding the F-35, the F-16,” Erdoğan said.
The acquisition by Turkey (a NATO member) of Russian S-400 systems in 2017 was perceived in Washington as a risk that Moscow could gain access to sensitive information about F-35 technology.
As a result, the United States applied the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), imposing restrictions on the Turkish defense industry and blocking exports and future aircraft deliveries.
In 2018, the US Senate banned the transfer of F-35s to Turkey until it renounced the S-400, which Ankara never accepted.
Turkey had planned to purchase up to 100 F-35 fighter jets, had even made advance payments and produced parts for the program, but after the veto, those deliveries and contracts were blocked. EFE
er-asb/mcd
