President Donald Trump clashed with a top Senate Republican on Tuesday, during a White House closed-door meeting over the extent of Turkey’s punishment for the country’s purchase of a Russian antimissile system, officials with knowledge of the matter said.
Trump has opposed imposing damaging sanctions on Turkey, while GOP senators have called on him not to waive mandatory sanctions against the NATO ally for purchasing the Russian-made S-400 system. The Republican senators, led by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman James E. Risch, argue that Turkey’s purchase of the Russian defense systems could put at risk the security of NATO’s F-35 stealth fighter technology.
President Trump announces last week that he would cancel Turkey’s purchase of over 100 F-35 fighter jets in response to Turkey’s move to accept delivery of the S-400s, although he refused to impose additional punishing measures against the country, The Washington Post informs.
People present at the meeting said the President called for negotiations with Turkey rather than any harsh sanctions, which led to a fierce debate between him and Risch.
“Everyone in the room knew there were many options available and there was spirited and robust debate on all sides of the issue,” Risch spokeswoman Suzanne Wrasse said late Tuesday.
People familiar with the matter also said the President seemed rather disinterested in discussing a punishment for Turkey. According to these officials, he appeared more eager to talk about health care, immigration and the new fiscal deal his administration reached with Congress this week.
His attitude towards the issue is at odds with senators from both sides of aisle, who are advocating for imposing an appropriate punishment on Turkey for its purchase of the Russian systems, something the U.S. has been threatening to do should the country decide to go through with the deal.
A group of leading Senate Democrats said in a letter to the President that they “agree with Secretary Pompeo and many Senate Republicans that sanctions must be imposed on Turkey in accordance with the law.”
“Without decisive action by the United States, our position in NATO and the strength of our sanctions regime on Russia will suffer,” they wrote.
Senator David Perdue, a close ally of President Trump’s, said that what the President is in fact attempting to do by calling for negotiations with Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan is “have a much broader approach to this thing.”
“Look at the broader issues of the entire region and then what’s going on with other major countries, you might get in a different situation. We’re trying to develop allies in the world,” Perdue stressed.
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