Turkish, US top diplomats meet after Trump-Erdoğan talks

ANKARA

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on July 8 held a bilateral meeting to further elaborate on issues discussed between the two countries’ presidents, including lifting sanctions on the defense industry and the sales of F-35 fighter jets.

The meeting between Fidan and Rubio took place on the margins of the NATO summit and a day after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and U.S. President Donald Trump held comprehensive talks in the Turkish capital Ankara.

Trump paid his first visit to Türkiye on July 7, as the president of the U.S., and Rubio and other senior leaders accompanied him. Trump vowed to lift the sanctions imposed on Türkiye under the Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), saying it was time to act to this end.

Fidan and Rubio did not make statements after the meeting.

On late July 7, Fidan attended a restricted-format meeting with some prominent European foreign ministers that focused on current security issues, the diplomatic sources said.

Foreign ministers from Germany, the U.K., France, Italy and Poland also took part in the meeting, along with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas. The meeting was held on the sidelines of the main summit.