US President Joe Biden met Sunday on the sidelines of the G20 Summit Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during which he underscored his “desire to maintain constructive relations, expand areas of cooperation and manage our disagreements effectively.” The White House said in a statement that Biden reaffirmed “our defense partnership and Turkeyآ’s importance as a NATO Ally, but noted US concerns over Turkeyآ’s possession of the Russian S-400 missile system.” Biden also expressed “appreciation for Turkeyآ’s nearly two decades of contributions to the NATO mission in Afghanistan.” Furthermore, the leaders discussed “the political process in Syria, the delivery of humanitarian assistance to Afghans in need, elections in Libya, the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean, and diplomatic efforts in the South Caucasus.” Meanwhile, a senior administration official told reporters that Biden and Erdogan had a “very constructive conversation,” and that Biden “made clear his desire to have constructive relations with Turkey and to find an effective way to manage our disagreements.” Asked if Biden was supportive of giving F16s to Turkey and if Erdogan asked for them, the official said “I think the Turkish Government and Erdogan including in his public comments in the last couple of weeks have been very clear that there is a desire by Turkey to purchase the F16s.” He added “the President took on board his desire to have them but made very clear that there is a process that we have to go through in the US and committed to continuing to work through that process
