US President Donald Trump announced plans to lift sanctions on Turkey imposed over its purchase of Russian S-400 air defense systems and said he will soon decide on resuming sales of F-35 stealth fighters to Ankara [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]. The sanctions were imposed in 2020 under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) after Turkey's acquisition of the S-400 system in 2019 triggered the penalties and Turkey’s removal from the multinational F-35 program [1, 2, 3, 4, 6].
Turkey was ejected from the F-35 program amid concerns the Russian S-400 could compromise the jets' stealth capabilities [1, 4, 6]. The US Congress passed a law in 2020 barring any F-35 sales to Turkey as long as it retained the S-400 systems [1, 3, 4, 6]. Trump said he will soon decide on the sale, calling the F-35 "a great plane, the best plane by far and it's certainly something we will consider" [2, 5, 6].
Trump met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the NATO summit in Ankara on July 7. At the meeting, Trump expressed readiness to consider restoring Turkey’s participation in the F-35 program and lifting sanctions. He told reporters, "We're going to be taking the sanctions off" and praised Turkey as "more loyal than other countries" receiving the fighter jets [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 6]. Erdogan said Turkey was promised five F-35 jets and hopes Trump will keep that promise [3, 7, 6].
The Trump administration has explored ways to work around legal restrictions, including potentially transferring the S-400 systems to a third party or disabling them, although these plans face significant challenges [1, 4]. US lawmakers and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu have voiced strong opposition to resuming F-35 sales to Turkey over security and legal concerns [3, 4, 5, 6].
Turkey remains a key NATO ally hosting US military bases and tactical nuclear weapons designated for NATO-Russia scenarios [4]. At the NATO summit from July 7-9, tensions persisted between the US and some European allies, even as Trump sought closer ties with Turkey [1, 2, 8, 9, 10, 11]. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte reiterated the US's dominant military role in the alliance during the summit [9].
Trump has blamed the previous Obama administration for Turkey's removal from the F-35 program and has pushed to reverse the decision [4]. The next major step will be Trump's formal announcement on the future of F-35 sales to Turkey, expected shortly after the July NATO summit [2, 5, 6].
