US officials have announced that the Joe Biden administration is awaiting congressional approval for the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey, provided Ankara agrees to Sweden and Finland joining NATO.
She pointed American Wall Street Magazine They quoted officials saying that congressional approval of the deal was contingent on Turkey’s approval of Finland and Sweden joining NATO.
They indicated that the US deal also includes a separate sale of next-generation F-35 combat aircraft to Greece, which they say “will be one of the largest overseas arms sales in recent years.”
US officials familiar with the proposals told the Wall Street Journal that the sale to Turkey has been under consideration by the US administration for more than a year and includes 40 aircraft and a new batch to refurbish 79 existing Turkish F-16s.
The deal also includes more than 900 air-to-air missiles and 800 bombs, officials said.
The Biden administration’s appeal to the US Congress on the sale of the planes will coincide with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu’s visit to Washington next week.
The Wall Street Journal said in its report that a State Department spokesman declined to comment on potential arms transfers for political reasons, even though Congress had not been formally notified of it.
Under U.S. arms export laws, Congress will have 30 days to review the sale, and if Congress wants to block the deal, it must pass a joint denial resolution and Congress can pass legislation to prevent or modify the sale at any time prior to the delivery date.
On May 18, Finland and Sweden, against the background of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine, submitted requests to the NATO Secretary General to join the alliance. So far, only two of the 30 countries out of 30 countries have ratified the applications of Sweden and Finland, these are Hungary and Turkey.
A source: American Wall Street Magazine
