WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Thursday urged Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan to stop buying Russian oil over the war in Ukraine, as Erdogan sought a long-awaited deal to buy US stealth fighter jets. As Erdogan visited the White House for the first time since 2019 during Trump&#39;s first term, Trump called on him to use his influence with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end Moscow&#39;s invasion.&nbsp;Trump said that he would discuss Ankara&#39;s wish to buy high-tech F-35 aircraft and was ready to end sanctions on Turkey over its purchase of Russian air defense missiles.&nbsp;NATO ally Turkey was booted out of the flagship US fighter jet program during Trump&#39;s first term after it defiantly bought Russia&#39;s S-400 surface-to-air missile system.&nbsp;&quot;I&#39;d like to have him stop buying any oil from Russia while Russia continues this rampage,&quot; Trump told reporters alongside Erdogan in the Oval Office.&nbsp;Trump said Erdogan was &quot;very respected&quot; by both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and &quot;could have a big influence if he wanted to. Right now, he&#39;s being very neutral.&quot;&nbsp;&quot;The best thing he could do is not buy oil and gas from Russia,&quot; Trump added.&nbsp;Asked when the US sanctions on Turkey&#39;s defense sector imposed over the Russian missiles could end, Trump replied: &quot;If we have a good meeting, almost immediately.&quot;&nbsp;The first Trump administration took the action out of concern that Turkey&#39;s purchase of the Russian anti-aircraft system would end up giving NATO&#39;s main adversary a window into the alliance&#39;s capabilities.&nbsp;&#39;Highly opinionated&#39;&nbsp;Trump, who was wearing a badge of a gold fighter jet on the lapel of his suit jacket, confirmed that they would discuss Turkey&#39;s push to end the long-running rift over buying more US aircraft.&nbsp;&quot;He wants the F-35 and he&#39;s wanted that, and we&#39;re talking about that very seriously,&quot; Trump said, adding that Turkey also wanted to buy more of the older F-16 jets and &quot;you&#39;ll know about that by the end of the day.&quot;&nbsp;Trump, known for his admiration for forceful foreign leaders, has long shown a fondness for Erdogan and is embracing him despite a crackdown in Turkey on the opposition.&nbsp;His warm welcome also came despite the fact that Erdogan is at odds with key US ally Israel on Gaza and Syria.&nbsp;&quot;This is a guy who&#39;s highly opinionated. Usually, I don&#39;t like opinionated people, but I always like this one, but he&#39;s a tough one,&quot; Trump told reporters.&nbsp;&quot;&#39;He knows about rigged elections better than anybody,&quot; Trump added about his counterpart, after saying that they had stayed friends even while the Republican was out of office due to what he called a &quot;rigged election.&quot;

Americas

US President Donald Trump urged Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan to stop buying Russian oil amid the Ukraine war, while signaling readiness to lift sanctions and discuss F-35 jets during Erdogan’s White House visit, emphasizing Turkey’s strategic influence.

Articles tagged with "TURKEY"

Trump urges Turkey's Erdogan to stop buying Russian oil