U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday said the United States supports the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Türkiye and that he is confident the congressional approval needed for the sale can be obtained.
Speaking at a news conference in Madrid at the conclusion of a NATO summit, he rejected suggestions that Washington's support for the sale was in return for Türkiye lifting its block to the NATO membership of Sweden and Finland.
"What I said was, I said back in December, as you'll recall, we should sell them the F-16 jets and modernize those jets as well," he said. "It's not in our interest not to do that."
"And there was no quid pro quo with that. It was just that we should sell, but I need congressional approval to be able to do that. And I think we can get that."
Türkiye made a request in October to the United States to buy 40 Lockheed Martin Corp-made F-16 fighters and nearly 80 modernization kits for its existing warplanes.
AID TO UKRAINE
President Joe Biden announced the US will send additional weapons to Ukraine worth more than $800 million.
The new arms delivery will include a "new advanced Western air defence system, more artillery and ammunition, counter battery radars, additional ammunition for the HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems we've already given Ukraine and more HIMARS coming from other countries as well," he said at the NATO summit in Madrid.
"We are going to stick with Ukraine and all of the alliance [will] stick with Ukraine as long as it takes to in fact make sure that they are not defeated [by Russia]," Biden said.
