President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House on Thursday that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan could pressure Russia to end the war in Ukraine “if he wants to.” Erdogan was sitting next to Trump when he said it.
“Everybody respects Erdogan. They really respect Erdogan. I do. And I think he could have a big influence if he wants to,” Trump responded when a reporter asked if Erdogan could help bring Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table.
“Right now, he’s very neutral. He likes being neutral. So do I, like being neutral,” Trump continued. “But he’s somebody that, if he got involved, the best thing he could do is not buy oil and gas from Russia. If he did that, that would be probably the best thing.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, greets Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan upon his arrival at Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, Monday, September 4, 2023. (Alexei Nikolsky, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
“He knows Putin like I know Putin,” Trump said of Erdogan.
“I’d like him to stop buying any oil from Russia, while Russia continues this rampage against Ukraine,” Trump reiterated later in the press conference.
Trump would not confirm if Turkey’s long-held desire to return to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program could be part of a deal in which Turkey, the third-largest buyer of Russian oil after China and India, would agree to halt its Russian imports.
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Turkey was part of the F-35 program until 2019, when the first Trump administration expelled it for purchasing Russian surface-to-air missiles. Turkey lost billions of dollars it had invested in developing the F-35, plus billions more it could have made by manufacturing components for the advanced jet fighter.
“I don’t think it’s very becoming of strategic partnership, and I don’t think it’s the right way to go,” Erdogan said of the F-35 ban in an interview on Monday.
Trump has thus far been unsuccessful in his effort to get India to stop buying Russian oil, despite imposing a 25-percent punitive tariff against India in August. Trump has also been pleading with European leaders to stop buying Russia’s energy products.
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Trump seemingly hinted at an understanding with Erdogan by predicting the Turkish president would “be successful” at buying what he would “like to buy” during his visit to Washington.
“He needs certain things, and we need certain things. And we’re going to come to a conclusion. You’ll know by the end of the day,” Trump said.
The Kremlin was dismissive of Trump’s gambit with Turkey on Friday.
“It is a sovereign state that decides for itself in which areas to cooperate with us. And if certain types of trade in certain goods are deemed advantageous to the Turkish side, then the Turkish side will continue to do so,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
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