US advances fighter jet sale to Greece, Turkey; Congress likely to approve

US President Joe Biden's administration on Friday formally informed Congress of its intention to proceed with a $8.6-billion deal to sell 20 Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth fighter jets to Greece.

At the same time, it announced the $23 billion sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey, a deal that Washington advanced as it tries to strike a balance between two alliance members with a history of tense relations.

Taking a major step toward completing a long-delayed process that tested ties with Ankara, the State Department sent the notification to advance the sale of 40 Lockheed Martin F-16s and nearly 80 modernization kits to Turkey, a day after Ankara fully completed ratification of the NATO membership of Sweden, a move that became directly linked to the jet sales.

Turkey first made the request for the jets in October 2021, but Ankara's delay in approving the...