Victoria Nuland

Turkey was thrown out of the F-35 combat aircraft program because of its actions which embraced Russia and were antithetical to NATO. The US drew a clear line in the sand by removing Turkey and cancelling their orders of aircraft.

Victoria Nuland, the third-highest ranking US diplomat and frequent target of criticism for her hawkish views on Russia and its actions in Ukraine, will retire and leave her post this month, the State Department said Tuesday.

Washington has reopened the window for Ankara's return to the F-35 co-production program, on the well-known condition that it removes its Russian S-400 missile defense system from Turkey. Similar discussions had taken place in the past, even with proposed alternatives for relocating the S-400s even to neighboring Azerbaijan, but to no avail. 

The modernization process of Türkiye's existing fleet of F-16s will commence without delay, immediately after the 15-day period granted to the U.S. Congress for potential objections to the sale of fighter jets and upgrade kits, says U.S. Acting Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland.

The second-ranking US diplomat met Niger's military leaders on Monday to press to reverse a coup but reported no headway a day after an ultimatum from the West African bloc ECOWAS was ignored.

Türkiye and the United States have agreed to further deepen their cooperation in all domains of mutual interest and intensify dialogue at all levels at a Strategic Mechanism meeting that addressed the former's demand to buy 40 F-16s and Sweden's bid to join NATO.

Presidential Spokesperson İbrahim Kalın met with U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan at the White House and U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland at the U.S. Department of State on March 14, as part of his visit to Washington.

A senior United States official has described the role Turkey has been playing in the Ukrainian crisis as "pivotal," appreciating its mediation efforts between Moscow and Kiev.

U.S. Undersecretary for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland will visit Turkey on April 4 as part of her regional trip, which includes paying visits to France, Greece, Cyprus and Germany between April 2 and 9.

The United States and Britain on Sunday flagged new and "devastating" economic sanctions against Russia, as Washington and its NATO allies step up efforts to deter any invasion of Ukraine.