The US ambassador to Turkey expressed his expectation that Presidents Donald Trump and Recep Tayyip Erdogan will manage to reach a solution to the issue of long-standing US defense sanctions against Ankara by the end of the year. This is reported by Reuters, News.bg reports.
US envoy Thomas Barrack said that the two leaders could give instructions to resolve the issue of sanctions that Washington imposed in 2020 due to Turkey's purchase of the Russian S-400 anti-missile system.
„I believe that President Trump and President Erdogan will task Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to find a solution. "This is entirely possible by the end of the year," Barak said.
The sanctions were imposed under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) and led to the exclusion of Turkey, a NATO member, from the F-35 fighter jet program, where it was both a buyer and a production partner.
Since Trump's return to the White House, Ankara has demonstrated closer ties with the United States and is demanding its participation in the program be restored or compensation for the investments made, stressing that its removal was unfair.
"We believe there is a real possibility because both leaders trust each other," Barak, who also serves as special envoy for Syria, said.