The United States Ambassador to Ankara, Jeff Flakedenied the allegations made in Turkey by a section of political analysts and media about strengthening the US military presence in Greece with the intention of turning the US against Turkey.

He noted that some military reinforcements have been made to Greece in support of Ukraine, refuting claims that the US is favoring Greece over Turkey and that it is beefing up to attack Turkey.

Speaking to journalists, the American ambassador also referred to sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkeyconfirming that the necessary congressional approvals for the sale have been obtained, but noted that negotiations are still ongoing between Turkey, Lockheed Martin and other suppliers to determine details such as Turkey’s participation in the production program and delivery specifications.

Jeff Flake explained that the current deal includes the purchase of “40 new and 79 upgraded F-16s” and that negotiations are continuing to finalize those issues.

As for the F-35 fighter programfrom which Turkey was expelled, the US ambassador reiterated that Washington “wants Turkey to be able to buy F-35s again”, while stressing that “the S-400 issue must be resolved first” for this to happen.

“We hope that there will be serious talks, and if those talks bring results, we can talk about the F-35 again,” Jeff Flake concluded.