Media: Trump intends to allow sale of American F-35 fighters to Turkey

US President Donald Trump is expected to tell his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan that US authorities are ready to allow the sale of fifth-generation F-35 fighters to Ankara.

This is reported by The New York Times (NYT), citing sources.

According to the newspaper, it remains unclear exactly how Trump intends to implement this step and circumvent the congressional ban on F-35 deliveries to Turkey. Unnamed US administration officials suggested that to restart Turkey's return to the F-35 program, the leaders could exchange official letters. The US leader will arrive in Turkey on July 7, where he will take part in the NATO summit.

As the publication notes, US officials have not ruled out that the White House leader could still change his mind. At the end of June, the Brussels portal Euractiv reported that the United States could return to the idea of selling F-35 aircraft to Turkey if it abandons its S-400 systems but does not return them to Russia and instead sells them to a "third country."

The United States excluded Turkey from its F-35 program in 2019 for acquiring Russian S-400 air defense systems. The United States justified its decision with concerns that Turkey could gather information on the F-35's vulnerabilities to the S-400 system by operating both in its armed forces.

Israel, whose relations with Ankara are deteriorating, and Turkey's NATO ally Greece, which is also a historical rival of Ankara, are also actively opposing the transfer of F-35 aircraft to Turkey. Greece and Israel claim that transferring F-35s to Turkey would "disrupt the regional balance of power."