Barrack: Turkey must give up Russian S-400s to rejoin F-35 program

BEIRUT — Washington continues to hold talks with Ankara over Turkey’s potential reentry into the F-35 fighter jet program, U.S. envoy and Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack said, as the two NATO allies navigate nearly a decade of strained defense cooperation.

Turkey was expelled from the program in 2019 after purchasing the Russian S-400 missile defense system, a move Washington viewed as incompatible with its F-35 partnership.

“As laid out in U.S. law, Türkiye must no longer operate nor possess the S-400 system to return to the F-35 program,” Barrack wrote on X on Tuesday evening, addressing Turkey, a NATO member since 1952.

“The positive relationship between President Trump and President Erdogan has created a new atmosphere of cooperation, which has led to the most fruitful conversations we have had on this topic in nearly a decade. Our hope is that these talks will yield a breakthrough in the coming months that meets both the security requirements of the United States and Türkiye,” he added.

The potential sale of advanced F-35 jets to Turkey has already raised concerns in Israel, which seeks to preserve its qualitative military edge in the region, according to the Times of Israel.