Trump urges Turkey to stop buying Russian oil as Erdogan chases deal on F-35s
US President Donald Trump called on Türkiye to stop buying oil from Russia, which is a part of a wider drive to cut Moscow’s energy fund while the war in Ukraine continued.
Speaking with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the White House, Trump said that the stopping of this import would be the “best thing” that the Turkish counterpart can do.
The Oval Office meeting ended without any definite commitment to remove sanctions on Türkiye or sell advanced F-35 fighter aircraft, but Trump expressed optimism in both respects.
Türkiye has been prevented from buying F-35s for years. In 2019, after acquiring air defense systems from Russia, he was fired from a program he produced pieces for a fighter aircraft.
During a short question and answer session with Erdogan at Oval Office on Thursday, Trump said that Türkiye wanted to “stop buying any oil from Russia while Russia continued its anger against Ukraine”.
“The best thing he can do is not to buy oil and gas from Russia.” He said. “If he had done this, that would be the best thing.”
He added that Erdogan believes that Erdogan believes that he was respected by both Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin, that is to say that he could have a great impact in the war.
In addition to India and China, Türkiye is one of the largest customers for Moscow’s oil and gas exports, and the data shows that the volume of Russian gas reaching Europe through Turkey increased by more than 26% at the beginning of this year.
The comments of the US President came only weeks later after saying that NATO countries were preparing to bring more sanctions to Russia, which meets the conditions that meet the conditions that meet the conditions involving the stopping of Russian oil imports.
At the beginning of this week – during a long conversation at the UN General Assembly – Trump accused NATO allies of “financing the war against them” with energy purchases from Moscow.
In the first period of Trump, the United States removed Türkiye from the F-35 program after purchasing missile systems from the S-400 surface from Russia to air.
A US defense invoice, which was adopted in 2020, involved a change that prevented Türkiye from acquiring F -35s -and only the US government cannot confirm that it has given up Russian S -400.
Some US deputies expressed their concerns about Turkish military attacks and potential sales on the past violations of the Greek airspace.
At the beginning of this week, the two-party Hellenic meeting at the US Congress allowed Türkiye to acquire F-35s and warned military cooperation with Russia and “not ignoring international norms and democratic principles”.
However, in the Oval Office, Trump told Erdogan that he would “be successful” by buying things “he wants to buy”.
“We need some things and we need some things,” he said. “And we will come to a conclusion. You will know at the end of the day.”
In an interview with Fox News on Monday, Erdogan said: “I don’t think this has become a very strategic partnership.”
Trump also said that the sanctions against Türkiye, which was applied in 2020 after the S -400 purchase, could be removed “very soon”.
“If we have a good meeting, almost almost,” he added.
The meeting between Trump and Erdoğan is the second this week after a short discussion, as well as leaders of various Arab and Muslim countries in the UN General Assembly.
In an interview with FOX, Erdogan accused us of Ally Israel of making “full genocide” in Gaza, and accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a different position than Trump’s public statements.
However, in the oval office on Thursday, the US and Turkish presidents refrained from public opinion disputes. Israel rejected the genocide in Gaza.
