No resolution on the S-400 conflict at the Biden-Erdogan meeting | Joe Biden News

Turkey will drive to secure Kabul airport After US troops leave, Biden and Erdogan agree.

When they met in Brussels this week, President Joe Biden and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed that Turkey would play a leading role in securing Kabul airport when the U.S. withdrew troops from Afghanistan, a U.S. official said.

The two leaders were unable to resolve a long-standing dispute over ties between Washington and Ankara over the purchase of an S-400 surface-to-air missile system by Turkey, the official said.

U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Thursday that Biden and Erdogan, at a June 14 meeting at the NATO summit, discussed the issue of security at Afghanistan airport.

Erdogan sought U.S. assistance to help secure the airport and Biden pledged to provide such assistance, Sullivan said, Reuters news agency reported.

“A clear commitment from the leaders was established that Turkey would play a leading role in securing Hamid Karzai International Airport and now we are working on how to run it to achieve that,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan’s remarks provided the U.S. president with the first details of the U.S. meeting between Biden and Erdogan. Ankara will not change its position In the Russian S-400 missile system.

Ankara’s purchase of weapons against Russian aircraft has hampered the U.S.’s intention to sell Turkey advanced F-35 fighter jets. Washington has it He removed Ankara from the F-35 fighter jet program and impose penalties.

“I said [Biden] that they don’t expect Turkey to take another step on F-35 and S-400 issues, because we have done what we needed to do for F-35 and because we have given the necessary money, ”Erdoğan told reporters on his return flight from Azerbaijan on Thursday.

“We need to closely monitor development. We will monitor all of our rights,” he said.

Turkey and the US have had no problems including political differences in Syria and the Eastern Mediterranean.

The two leaders appeared happy after their meeting, although they did not report what concrete progress they had made. One potential area for cooperation has been Afghanistan, where Ankara has offered to look after and operate Kabul airport after the withdrawal of US and NATO forces in the coming weeks.

Airport security is key to the functioning of diplomatic missions in Afghanistan as Western forces emerge.

Last week, a Taliban spokesman said Turkey would have to withdraw its troops Under the agreement to withdraw US forces from Afghanistan by 2020, however, Sullivan said the Taliban’s comments did not prevent it from being “accurate and effective.” security plan The US is coming together.

“Of course, we are deeply concerned that the Taliban or other elements of Afghanistan will attack the West or the international presence … We do not believe that what the Taliban have said publicly will hinder their ongoing efforts to establish such a security presence,” Sullivan said.

As president, Biden has taken on a fresher tone than his predecessor Donald Trump towards Erdogan. Biden quickly acknowledged the 1915 Armenian massacre as genocide, and Biden has intensified his criticism of Turkey’s human rights history.

It was not clear if Biden had raised a human rights issue with Erdogan in his meeting, and Sullivan gave few details, so to speak. impasse on the S-400s would be fixed.

“They discussed it. No solution to the problem was given. The S-400 was committed to continuing the dialogue and the two teams will continue to leave the meeting, ”he said.