US Senator Bob Menendez’s opposition to the sale of F-16s to Turkey is key in Washington’s negotiations with Ankara over Sweden’s NATO bid as anticipation for finalising the year-long negotiations hots up before the bloc’s Vilnius Summit next week.
Although the Biden administration insists that the arms deal is not linked to the NATO talks, analysts suggest that if the Turkish President’s desire to upgrade his fleet of fighter jets can be appeased, Ankara is more likely to get out of the way and approve Sweden’s bid.
As the annual NATO summit approaches, speculation has risen that top Biden officials seek to cut a deal with Turkey over the $20 billion sale and Turkey’s veto on Sweden’s NATO accession, potentially bringing the talks to what Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson called a “natural” end.
According to reports from US media outlets cited by the Russian news outlet Sputnik, the US State Department is engaging in discussions with Menendez regarding the potential sale.
Since Menendez, as the head of the US Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, has authority to put the sale on hold, the stakes are high on whether his hand can be forced to put aside his criticism of Turkey’s approach to the Nordic NATO bids, questionable upholding of democracy, and incursions into Greek airspace.
On 5 July, Kristersson met with President Joe Biden at the White House to “reaffirm backing for Sweden’s NATO application”, Reuters reported, while both men acknowledged that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan could continue to put a spanner in the works. “Only Turkey can make Turkish decisions,” Kristersson said in Washington.
Ankara submitted a request to Washington for 40 F-16 jets along with modernisation kits in October 2021.
“Until Erdoğan ceases his threats, improves his human rights record at home — including by releasing journalists and political opposition — and begins to act like a trusted ally should, I will not approve this sale,” Menendez had said in January.
