Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said problems over the F-35 jet program will be the main topic at his meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden at a summit in Glasgow starting at the end of this month, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Wednesday.
Turkey, a manufacturer and buyer of the F-35s, was expelled from the program over its purchase of Russian S-400 defense systems. It says its removal is unjust and has demanded reimbursement of $1.4 billion.
Erdogan has said Washington offered Ankara a package of F-16 jets and modernization kits in exchange for the payment, but the United States has said it offered no such financial plan.
“The information we received is that there is a payment plan of some sort with them,” Anadolu news agency cited him as telling reporters regarding the F-16s.
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“Whether this is true or not, we will find out from them. It will be good for me to discuss this with Mr. Biden at the highest level. If so, we will go for a deal in that regard,” he said on a flight returning from a visit to Azerbaijan.
Glasgow will host the U.N. COP26 climate summit between Oct. 31-Nov. 12. Erdogan said previously he would meet Biden at the G20 summit in Rome at the end of this month.