Turkish finance minister Berat Albayrak said on Monday that he has held dialogues with United States President Donald Trump, during which Trump took a “reasonable” stance over Ankara purchasing S-400 defence missile system from Russia, Turkish media reported.
Ankara buying Russian air defence missile system has fueled friction between the NATO allies and the US has said the purchase could prompt US sanctions over Ankara. However, Turkish defence minister Akar said on Monday the issues could be resolved through dialogues.
According to Reuters news reports, Albayrak, son-in-law of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said he met with White House advisor, Jared Kushner, son-in-law of US president, and treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin.
In a tweet on Tuesday, Albayrak said, “During our meetings, where we discussed steps to increase our cooperation, we were received by U.S. President Donald Trump. We passed on the greetings and messages of our president.”
Albayrak was quoted by broadcaster CNN Turk as telling reporters, “He listened in a very reasonable way with a positive understanding to the process regarding Turkey’s needs for the S-400s,” adding, “There was a very positive, constructive conversation.”
He was also quoted as saying there were discussions related to increasing bilateral trade cooperation between the US and Turkey from $20 billion currently to $75 billion annually.