The White House plans to go ahead with the potential $20 billion sale of F-16 fighter aircraft to Turkey, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.
The move came hours after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave the green light to Sweden to join NATO.
U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan dismissed claims that pushing the sale of the fighter jets to Turkey was in exchange for Erdogan’s decision on Stockholm’s bid to become a NATO member.
“President Biden has been clear for months that he supports the transfer of F-16s to Turkey, that this is in our national interest and the interest of NATO,” Sullivan told reporters at the sidelines of the NATO leaders’ summit in Lithuania. “He’s placed no caveats or conditions on that.”
The Middle Eastern country has sought the aircraft to update its aging fleet of fighter jets to support its fight with Kurdish militants in Iraq and deter adversaries, according to the report.
