Biden says there was no 'quid pro quo' with Erdogan on NATO membership

2022-06-30

Biden says there was no ‘quid pro quo’ with Erdogan to sell Turkey F-16s in exchange for them letting Sweden and Finland join NATO and announces ANOTHER $800 million weapons package to Ukraine

Biden addressed journalists Thursday at the end of the NATO summit in Madrid
He used it to announce he was sending another $800 million in arms to Ukraine
And he denied there had been a ‘quid pro quo’ to sell Turkey F-16 warplanes in return for dropping its opposition to Finland and Sweden joining NATO
Biden is due to fly home to Washington after a six-day trip to Europe
He met with G7 leaders in the Bavarian Alps before heading to Madrid

President Joe Biden said Thursday there was no ‘quid pro quo’ to sell F-16s to Turkey if it dropped its opposition to Sweden and Finland joining NATO.

He made his remarks at the end of a two-day NATO summit in Madrid, Spain.

It opened with news that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had given his go-ahead to NATO expansion, and was followed by senior Biden administration officials offering warm words about Turkey’s bit to buy F-16s.

But during a news conference at the end of the summit, Biden insisted it was wrong to suggest a deal had been done.

‘I said back in December, as you recall, we should sell them the F-16 jets … modernise those jets as well,’ he said.

‘It’s not in our interest not to do that. And I indicated to them that I’ve not changed my position at all since December.

‘And there was no quid pro quo with that. It’s just that we should sell.

‘I need congressional approval to be able to do that, and I think we can get that.’

Sweden and Finland ended decades of neutrality to apply for NATO membership after Russia invaded Ukraine.

President Joe Biden addressed the media at the end of a six-day trip to Europe. He said there was no ‘quid pro quo’ with Turkey to drop its opposition to Finland and Sweden joining NATO

Turkey has repeatedly complained that a sale of F-16s is taking too long. And this week U.S. officials said the Pentagon ‘fully supports’ the sale

Biden praised Erdogan for lifting his objections to Sweden and Finland joining NATO and thanked him for his work on getting grain out of the Ukraine when they met Wednesday

Biden praised the decision.

‘I want to particularly thank you for what you did putting together the situation with regard to Finland and Sweden,’ he told Erdogan when they met on the sidelines of the summit on Wednesday.

Erdogan’s announcement came after the two leaders spoke to each by phone.

And when Turkey dropped its opposition to Finnish and Swedish membership, U.S. officials also had warm words for its plan to upgrade its air force.

‘The US Department of Defense fully supports Turkey’s modernization plans for its F-16 fleet,’ Celeste Wallander, assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, told reporters.

‘These plans are in the works.’

The result was a slew of speculation that the U.S. had offered to smooth the sale, in return for progress on NATO expansion.

In October, Turkey made an offer to buy 40 F-16 fighters and dozens of modernization kits for its existing warplanes.

Biden also used his news conference to say he was sending another $800 million in military aid to Ukraine and said Putin’s aggression had backfired with the way NATO was expanding.

Biden joined allies at the NATO summit in Madrid, where the big news was progress in Sweden and Finland joining the 30-strong alliance

‘I don’t know how it’s going to end, but it will not end with Russia defeating in Ukraine,’ said Biden.

‘Ukraine has already dealt a severe blow to Russia.’

The new round of aid will add to the more than $6 billion in security assistance already delivered to Ukraine.

‘Putin thought he could break the transatlantic alliance,’ Biden said.

‘He tried to weaken us. He expected our resolve to fracture but he’s getting exactly what he did not want.

‘He wanted the Finlandization of NATO. He got the NATOization.’

Biden arrived in Europe on Saturday night for the G7 summit in Germany, before flying to Spain.

But he has taken few questions from reporters during the trip.

On Thursday, he called on four reporters whose names were on a prepared list.

As has become White House practise, administration officials had telephoned members of the traveling press pack to ask what the journalists planned to ask.

President Joe Biden, Sweden’s Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and Finland’s President Sauli Niinisto walk along the Colonnade to the Oval Office at the White House, last month

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine prompted Finland and Sweden to launch NATO applications

If the nations are accepted into the alliance they will bring with them almost 1million troops, including reserves, along with a huge amount of artillery, jets and submarines

‘I’m supposed to go down the list here,’ said Biden as he called on Jim Tankersley of the New York Times.

He and other NATO leaders repeatedly said they would support Ukraine for as long as it took to defeat Russia.

‘I think we can all agree this has been a historic NATO summit,’ said Biden.

‘Before the war started I told Putin that if he invaded Ukraine NATO would not only get stronger, but it would get more united, and we would see democracies of the world stand up and oppose his aggression and defend the rules based order.

‘That is exactly what we are seeing today.’

Earlier, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Sweden and Finland will sign the alliance’s accession protocol on Tuesday – the next step to joining.

That must then be ratified by all 30 members for them to become members.

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