Ben Cardin

US senators declined on Thursday to block the sale of F-16s to Turkey, despite voicing deep disdain for Turkey's conduct as an ally. They were upholding an unofficial bargain that Turks would get the fighter jets if they stopped blocking Sweden's accession to NATO.

"A deal's a deal," said Idaho Senator Jim Risch, the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The U.S. Congress has given its final approval for the sale of 40 new F-16 fighter jets to Türkiye under a $23 billion deal as the 15-day objection period concluded on Feb. 10.

The approval follows the official notification from the Biden administration to Congress on Jan. 26.

Kathimerini English Edition, the Delphi Economic Forum and the Hellenic American Leadership Council (HALC) are jointly organizing the 5th Southeast Europe & East Med Forum scheduled for February 12-13 in Washington, DC.

Defense Ministry sources have expressed confidence that the proposed measure in the U.S. Senate to prevent the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Türkiye is unlikely to impede the process.

In response to inquiries, sources said they "do not expect any negativity" in the approval of the F-16 sale despite a recent proposal by Republican Senator Rand Paul.

U.S. lawmakers skeptical about the nuclear deal with Iran promised to press senior Obama administration officials to make more information about it public at a Senate hearing on July 23 as Congress begins its two-month review of the agreement.