US President Donald Trump on Thursday urged Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan to stop buying Russian oil over the war in Ukraine, while hinting that he may drop a ban on Ankara buying US stealth fighter jets.
Erdogan was making his first visit to the White House since 2019 -- the same year Washington kicked Turkey out of the F-35 jet program over the NATO ally's purchase of a Russian air defense system.
Trump said they would talk "very seriously" about ending the rift over the high-tech planes, and said he was ready to lift sanctions against Ankara over the Russian S-400 missiles if the meeting went well.
But he also pushed the key issue of Ukraine with Erdogan, whose country has refused to join international sanctions on Moscow and has even stepped up its purchases of Russian oil.
"I'd like to have him stop buying any oil from Russia while Russia continues this rampage," Trump told reporters at the start of the two-hour meeting in the Oval Office.
Trump said Erdogan was "very respected" by both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and "could have a big influence if he wanted to. Right now he's being very neutral."
"The best thing he could do is not buy oil and gas from Russia," Trump added.
Turkey is Russia's fourth-biggest trading partner, according to Europe's Bruegel Institute, which tallied $52 billion worth of exchanges last year -- largely fossil fuels and electronics.
Trump, who said in a major shift earlier this week that he now believed Ukraine can win the war, insists Western allies must stop buying Russian oil and gas before he imposes any more sanctions on Moscow.
- 'Rigged elections' -
Known for his admiration for forceful foreign leaders, Trump has long shown a fondness for Erdogan and is embracing him despite a crackdown in Turkey on the opposition.
"This is a guy who's highly opinionated. Usually, I don't like opinionated people, but I always like this one, but he's a tough one," Trump told reporters.
"He knows about rigged elections better than anybody," Trump added about his counterpart, after saying that they had stayed friends even while the Republican was out of office due to what he called a "rigged election."
But the F-35s have been a sticking point ever since Trump's first term.
Turkey was booted out of the flagship US fighter jet program six years ago out of concern that its purchase of the Russian system would give NATO's main adversary a window into the F-35's capabilities.
The first Trump administration then imposed sanctions on Turkey's defense sector.
"He wants the F-35 and he's wanted that, and we're talking about that very seriously," said Trump, who was wearing a badge of a gold fighter jet on the lapel of his suit jacket, adding that "you'll know about that by the end of the day."
Turkey also wanted to buy more of the older F-16 jets, he said.
Asked when US sanctions could be lifted, Trump replied: "If we have a good meeting, almost immediately."
Trump and Erdogan were also seeking to paper over differences on Gaza and Syria. Erdogan has been a fierce critic of key US ally Israel over the Gaza war.
"President Trump has tremendous influence. I believe that we could, hand-in-hand, overcome all the bitterness and the problems in the region," Erdogan told reporters through an interpreter.
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