Biden administration, Former Vice President of the United States

Brussels, June 15 US President Joe Biden and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan held their first in-person meeting here on the sidelines of the NATO Summit, which the latter described as "fruitful and sincere".The meeting on Tuesday was part of Biden's first foreign trip as President. The first leg of the visit took him to the UK for the G7 Summit last weekend and his next stop will be Geneva where the much-anticipated meeting with Russian leader Vladmir Putin will be held on Wednesday.During the 90-minute meeting, Biden and Erdogan discussed a number of issues, including the global fight against the Covid-19 pandemic and the vaccine situation, Xinhua news agency reported."There are no outstanding problems between the US and Turkey that cannot be solved. On the contrary, there are many areas where we could focus on prospective and fruitful cooperation," Erdogan told journalists at a news conference."Our history goes back a long time and we managed to exchange views on a vast area of issues. We also focused on the incidents on which we have different opinions and, in a very constructive fashion, talked about areas where we could further explore cooperation."We agreed on the necessity to effectively use dialogue channels between our nations in a regular fashion so, at the end of the day, it was a very fruitful and very sincere meeting. We also underlined the fact that bilateral cooperation should be revitalised," he added.In response to a query about whether the S-400 defence system was discussed, Erdogan said: "I expressed our previous opinion on the S-400, I also expressed our opinion on the F-35."What are the steps we can take, I expressed them. Of course, this process does not end here, our ministers will secure this process as a result of their talks."We said that our Defense and Foreign Ministers should discuss these among themselves, and after this meeting they will hold among themselves, we have to take our steps, we have come to such a decision."Describing his relationship with Biden as "long-standing", Erdogan said he invited his American counterpart to visit Turkey.He added that Biden indicated that he might pay a visit once his intense schedule allows it.Addressing a separate press conference, Biden said of the meeting: "We had a positive and productive meeting, much of it one-on-one. We had detailed discussions about how to proceed on a number of issues..."Our teams are going to continue our discussions and I'm confident we will make real progress with Turkey and the US."He also emphasised that it was a"positive and productive meeting", adding that "our countries have big agendas. Our teams will continue our discussions, I think we will make great progress as the US and Turkey".Biden, who has sought to reassert American backing for the 72-year-old alliance, said that NATO was critically important for "US interests" and it had a "sacred obligation" to observe Article 5 of its founding treaty, which commits members to defend each other from attack, the BBC reported.Asked about his forthcoming summit with Putin, he described the Russian President as a "worthy adversary".Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor

Biden AdministrationFOLLOW

Biden administration, Latest News

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now called the Delta variant of the novel coronavirus, also known as B.1.617.2, a "variant of concern". ...

Brussels, June 16 The European Union (EU) and the United States held their first summit in seven years ... ...

Expressing concern over US crossing mark of 600,000 COVID-19 deaths, President Joe Biden on Tuesday (local time) said that his heart goes out for all those who have lost their loved ones. ...

The United States and the European Union (EU) on Tuesday resolved a long-running trade dispute over subsidies to Airbus and Boeing, in a bid to improve transatlantic relations as both sides seek to counter China's rising economic influence. ...

US President Joe Biden on Tuesday directed his national security team to lead a 100-day comprehensive review of government efforts to address domestic terrorism and released the first-ever 'National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism' to addr ...

Brussels, June 15 The in-person NATO Summit has concluded with leaders of the 30-member alliance agreeing on a ... ...

US President Joe Biden has said there is a "strong consensus" among NATO leaders about America's decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan and that they will continue to support the Afghan people and security forces. ...

Brussels, June 15 US President Joe Biden and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan held their first in-person ... ...