Speaking during a news conference on Wednesday, Turkish top diplomat Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said that Turkey was ready to take steps to improve ties with the United States and hoped the Biden administration would do the same.
Ankara and Washington have started talks to form a joint working group regarding Turkey's purchase of Russian S-400 missile defence systems and the U.S. sanctions stemming from it, Çavuşoğlu said in a statement.
The top diplomat also added that the working group had not been formed yet but talks among experts had begun.
On Dec. 14, through its Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), the US imposed sanctions on Turkey over its acquisition of the Russian S-400 missile defense system.
In April 2017, when its protracted efforts to buy an air defense system from the US proved futile, Turkey signed a contract with Russia to acquire the state-of-art missile shield.
US officials have voiced opposition to their deployment, claiming they would be incompatible with NATO systems and would expose F-35 jets to possible Russian subterfuge.
Turkey, however, stressed that the S-400s would not be integrated into NATO systems, and poses no threat to the alliance or its armaments.
Turkish officials have repeatedly proposed a working group to examine the technical compatibility issue.
