U.S. President Donald Trump said Washington will lift sanctions against Turkey that were imposed because Ankara purchased Russian S-400 air defense missile systems.
“We will lift the sanctions,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday in Ankara, responding to a question about the measures imposed against Turkey under the CAATSA law.
The statement came at the start of Trump’s meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara.
The U.S. imposed sanctions on Turkey in 2020 after Ankara purchased Russian S-400 air defense systems. Washington also excluded Turkey from the F-35 fighter jet program, stating that the use of Russian systems poses risks to American aircraft.
Trump also said that the U.S. would make a decision regarding the possible sale of F-35s to Turkey. According to Reuters, the U.S. administration is ready to support such a deal, but legal and congressional obstacles have not yet been fully resolved.
For Turkey, the lifting of sanctions and a possible return to the F-35 issue would represent a significant breakthrough in relations with the U.S. This is also a sensitive issue for NATO, as Ankara remains one of the alliance’s key members, but its purchase of Russian S-400 systems in recent years has been one of the main sources of friction in its relations with Washington.
The NATO summit in Ankara is taking place against the backdrop of the alliance’s efforts to demonstrate increased defense spending and strengthened military-industrial cooperation. The meeting between Trump and Erdogan has become one of the summit’s central bilateral meetings, as it concerns not only sanctions but also future deliveries of U.S. weapons to Turkey.
