Trump signals reversal of Turkey F-35 ban

{"text":[[{"start":11.75,"text":"Donald Trump gave a strong signal that he would seek to overturn his own ban on Turkey buying F-35 fighter jets at a landmark Nato summit in Ankara otherwise fraught with tensions between the US and its allies."}],[{"start":24.35,"text":"It is “something certainly we would consider”, the US president said as he took a swipe at other Nato partners. “Why wouldn’t we do that? We have a better relationship with Turkey, and Turkey has been in many ways much more loyal than other countries.”"}],[{"start":39.25,"text":"Turkey was banned from acquiring the fighter jets after it bought a Russian S-400 air defence system in 2019. Sitting next to Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at a conference room in Turkey’s presidential palace, where the summit is being held, Trump also said the US would lift the sanctions that were placed on Turkey the following year."}],[{"start":57.35,"text":"“We’re going to be taking the sanctions off,” Trump said. “We don’t want to sanction friends. It’s very simple.” "}],[{"start":64.5,"text":"Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, said only last month that the administration was bound by law to maintain the sanctions on Turkey until it removed the Russian S-400 system."}],[{"start":76.65,"text":"Trump and Erdoğan’s warm relations stood in stark contrast with the efforts other Nato allies have made to convince Trump that Europe is spending more on securing its own defence, and that Nato is not “a paper tiger” unable to function without US leadership and weaponry, as Trump has previously called it."}],[{"start":93.85000000000001,"text":"At the start of the conference, Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte unveiled tens of billions of defence industry deals designed, in part, to show Trump that Europe is serious about taking more responsibility for its own defence."}],[{"start":107.7,"text":"“It is money well spent,” Rutte announced from a stage framed by slick videos and high-volume techno music."}],[{"start":115.65,"text":"Some of the initiatives that Rutte revealed involved major contracts with US companies but there were also many that did not."}],[{"start":123.65,"text":"One of the biggest ticket items was a deal to buy up to 10 surveillance planes from a consortium led by Sweden’s Saab and Canada’s Bombardier. The GlobalEye aircraft, which cost $400mn to $450mn each, will replace Nato’s own fleet of 14 Awacs early-warning radar surveillance planes."}],[{"start":143.85,"text":"Saab president Micael Johansson said the planes, early versions of which are already in service, could be delivered from 2030 if the deal was finalised soon."}],[{"start":153.65,"text":"But Rutte also announced that allies would buy up to five Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton high-altitude surveillance drones. Norway, Finland, Germany and Denmark signed a letter of intent for the purchase of the drones that, based on recent US Department of Defense procurement figures, cost about $270mn each."}],[{"start":172.65,"text":"“We need a transatlantic defence-industrial revolution. The hum of machinery must become a roar,” Rutte said. “The money is there, and much more is coming. But this cash needs to be put to work . . . the security situation demands it.”"}],[{"start":187.45000000000002,"text":"The splashy defence industry deals come after Rutte travelled to Washington late last month to try and ease US concerns that some European and Canadian defence spending was lagging behind their commitments. "}],[{"start":200.10000000000002,"text":"At the White House, Rutte displayed a chart labelled “The Trump Trillion”, which showed Europe and Canadian allies had increased defence spending by $1.2tn since 2017."}],[{"start":213.70000000000002,"text":"But Trump had seemed unimpressed by Rutte’s presentation, saying he had been disappointed by some Nato allies’ refusal to join the Iran war. “We don’t need their money,” he said. “I just want loyalty.”"}],[{"start":227.25000000000003,"text":"Ahead of the Nato summit, a senior US official said that Trump had “previewed where he feels our allies are in underperforming defence commitment, and he will deliver that message in person”. The US official added that Nato allies “need to be more capable” and need to “move on The Hague defence commitment as fast as possible”. "}],[{"start":246.55000000000004,"text":"The Hague commitment involves spending 5 per cent of GDP on defence by 2035, and Rutte said on Monday that the summit would require allies to present “clear, concrete and credible plans” to reach that target. He also warned that if any countries still had to be convinced, “we have ways to do that” but did not elaborate."}],[{"start":266.70000000000005,"text":"Britain is one of the Nato countries under pressure to bolster its defence credentials among allies, after tumbling down the Nato league tables for military expenditure as a proportion of GDP. "}],[{"start":279.1,"text":"While Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer last week announced a £15bn defence spending uplift over the next four years, he has declined to set a deadline for Britain to spend 3 per cent of GDP on its military as a milestone towards reaching its commitment to spend 3.5 per cent in 2035."}],[{"start":299.6,"text":"Attending the Nato summit this week, Starmer is seeking to regain the front foot, positioning the UK as leader of a new initiative of about a dozen European allies who are developing deep precision strike (DPS) capabilities worth $50bn over the next decade."}],[{"start":316.6,"text":"In his final appearance on the world stage before stepping down this month, he will on Wednesday unveil the new DPS initiative, which is expected to include Germany, France and the Baltic states. "}],[{"start":329.6,"text":"It will bring together previously announced projects for advanced weapons that can strike distances from 300km to beyond 2,000km with “pinpoint accuracy”."}],[{"start":339.90000000000003,"text":"As well as reassuring Trump, a senior European official said that the flurry of defence agreements was intended to “promote our capability build-up, serve interoperability among allies and move us forward overall in deterring anyone who might be tempted to attack us”."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":354.6,"text":"Yet some of the deals also underlined the challenges in Nato’s drive for transatlantic co-production of new weaponry."}],[{"start":361.55,"text":"German arms company Rheinmetall and US weapons giant Lockheed Martin announced progress on a plan to produce rockets and missiles in Germany. "}],[{"start":371.1,"text":"But after months of wrangling, it fell short of the hopes voiced by Rheinmetall chief executive Armin Papperger more than a year ago — including licensed production of interceptor missiles for Patriot air defence systems, the PAC-3, that have proved vital for the defence of Ukrainian cities from Russian ballistic missile attacks."}],[{"start":390.45000000000005,"text":"Instead, the two companies announced progress only on one of the less high-tech products, Atacms missiles, which the US is phasing out and replacing with a more high-tech successor. "}],[{"start":401.90000000000003,"text":"A separate announcement unveiled plans for a dedicated PAC-3 maintenance facility on European soil. But the holy grail of producing PAC-3 interceptors in Europe under licence remained tantalisingly elusive. "}],[{"start":415.25000000000006,"text":"Instead of a firm commitment, US under secretary of defence Michael Duffey told reporters: “We remain open to the possibility of production outside the US.”"}],[{"start":425.40000000000003,"text":"The possibility of a deal to sell F-35s to Turkey has sparked concern in Israel, which has long relied on US support to maintain a military edge in the Middle East and has lobbied vociferously against the proposal."}],[{"start":439.6,"text":"In an interview with CNN on Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a deal would “destroy the power balance in the Middle East”, claiming that “Turkey . . . has aggressive aspirations”. “I wouldn’t do that,” he said."}],[{"start":452.95000000000005,"text":"Additional reporting by James Shotter and Lucy Fisher"}],[{"start":463.15000000000003,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1783482808_2647.mp3"}