President Joe Biden said on Thursday the US should go through with the delayed sale of the F-16 fighter jets to Turkey, but added that the approval of Congress is required.
“We should sell them the F-16 jets and modernize those jets as well,” Biden said.
He added: “I need congressional approval to do that and I think I can do that.”
Biden’s statement of support for the sale came after Turkey dropped its opposition to the NATO membership bids of Finland and Sweden.
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Biden said that there was “no quid pro quo” linking Turkey’s approval of Finland and Sweden joining NATO and the sale of the F-16s.
The US had removed Turkey from the F-35 joint strike fighter program in 2019 over its concerns because of Ankara’s purchase of Russia’s S-400 missile defense system.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had said last month that his country was in talks with the US to buy F-16 fighter jets instead of the F-35.
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