U.S. President Joe Biden is set to his meet his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Sunday, when he will warn the latter against impulsive actions that would fail to benefit Washington-Ankara relations, Reuters reported on Saturday, citing a U.S. official said on Saturday.
The meeting, set to take place on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Rome, will also cover Turkey’s request to purchase of F-16 fighter jets and the defence relationship between the NATO allies, the agency said.
The meeting between the pair arrives against a backdrop of numerous issues plaguing Turkey-U.S. relations, including Turkey’s expulsion from the joint production of the fifth-generation F-35 aircraft in 2019, following Ankara’s decision to purchase Russian S-400 missile defence systems.
Earlier this month, Erdoğan said that the United States had proposed selling Turkey upgraded F-16s to offset its investment in the F-35 programme. Washington canceled the sale of F-35 jets over claims that it could expose military secrets to Russia. The U.S. State Department however denied the existence of any F-16 deal.
Turkey’s purchase of the S-400s also triggered U.S. sanctions against its defence industry in December last year. Washington has called on Ankara to drop any plans to purchase more of the missiles or risk further punitive measures.
In the latest bout of tensions earlier this month, Erdoğan ordered 10 envoys, including the U.S. ambassador to Turkey, to be declared “persona non grata” after calling for the urgent release of jailed philanthropist Osman Kavala. Turkey later withdrew the threat.