The US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin he spoke by phone, on Monday night, with his Turkish counterpart Yasar Guler for “common bilateral and multilateral defense objectives,” according to a statement from the US Department of Defense.

“Secretary Austin and Secretary Guler extolled the long history of military cooperation between the United States and Turkey and applauded our continued close cooperation,” the release of the phone call said.

“They also discussed the positive talks between Turkey, Sweden and NATO Secretary General (Jens) Stoltenberg, as well as the Ministry of Defense’s support for Turkey’s military modernization,” it added.

The phone call was made while the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed on Monday to send Sweden’s NATO Accession Protocol to the Turkish National Assembly after a tripartite meeting with Stoltenberg and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristerson ahead of the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania on Tuesday and Wednesday.

In October 2021, Ankara asked the US for new F-16 fighter jets as well as modernization kits for its existing F-16s. The $6 billion deal will include the sale of 40 F-16s as well as modernization kits for 79 fighter jets already in the Turkish Air Force’s inventory.

Although the Biden administration has repeatedly said it wants to move forward with the sale of F-16 jets to Turkey, key lawmakers on Capitol Hill have vowed not to let it go by setting conditions including making the purchase contingent on Ankara’s approval of Sweden’s entry into the NATO.

Turkish and US officials officially state that Sweden’s offer to NATO and the sale of F-16 jets they are not connected.