U.S. President Donald Trump, in anticipation of the visit to Washington of Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, proposed a trade deal worth $ 100 billion, as well as possible ways to resolve the contradictions around Russian S-400 air defense systems, the Washington Post reported.
“In a new letter to Erdogan last week, Trump told the Turkish president that a $ 100 billion trade deal and a workaround that would avoid US sanctions over Turkey’s purchase of Russian S-400 air defense systems are still possible,” the newspaper writes, citing sources from among senior officials of the administration.
“We removed (the trading proposal – ed.) from the agenda when the Turks entered Syria. But as soon as we received assurances of a ceasefire, we decided to return the package of proposals, including the implementation of the current visit,” one of the sources told the newspaper.
“Secondly, they solve the S-400 problem to our satisfaction,” he added.
Ankara’s acquisition of the S-400, despite Washington’s warnings, led to the U.S. decision to exclude Turkey from the production chain, as well as the purchase of American F-35 fighters.
In addition, as Robert O’Brien, the US president’s adviser on national security, said on the eve that if the S-400 deal remains in force, Turkey will be sanctioned by the CAATSA law that Congress approves.
The US is determined to solve the problem of Turkey’s purchase of Russian anti-aircraft missile defense systems S-400, a senior administration official said during a briefing on Erdogan’s visit.
“This has been a problem for the United States and Turkey for several years. (…) This is one of those very complex problems that, according to the president, need to be addressed,” the official said.
He added that “in bilateral relations there is huge economic growth potential, the key part of which is the F-35 and the potential role of Turkey in the F-35 program.”
“But in order to achieve this, we, as allies, need to resolve this issue with the S-400. One must take a step, and only after that the second will take a step,” the senior official said.
In his opinion, Trump and Erdogan “at all their meetings, in all their conversations are very, very frank in how this situation should be resolved and what are the preferred solutions.”
Negotiations trump and Erdogan are scheduled for Wednesday.