Trump calls on Turkey to stop buying Russian oil

US President Donald Trump has urged Turkey to stop buying oil from Russia, part of a wider drive to cut off Moscow’s energy funding as the war in Ukraine rages on, the BBC writes.

Speaking alongside Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the White House, Trump said halting those imports would be “the best thing” his Turkish counterpart could do.

The Oval Office meeting ended without any firm commitments to lift US sanctions on Turkey or to sell advanced F-35 fighter jets, though Trump expressed optimism on both issues.

Turkey has for years been prevented from buying US F-35s. In 2019, it was expelled from a program where it produced parts for the warplane after it acquired air defense systems from Russia.

During a brief question-and-answer session alongside Erdogan in the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump said he would like Turkey to stop “buying any oil from Russia while Russia continues its rampage against Ukraine”.

Trump added that he believes Erdogan is respected both by Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin, meaning that he could “have a big influence” on the war “if he wants to”.

Alongside India and China, Turkey is among Moscow’s biggest customers for oil and gas exports, and data shows that the volume of Russian gas that reached Europe through Turkey rose by more than 26% earlier this year.

The US president’s comments come just weeks after he said he stood poised to impose tougher sanctions on Russia if Nato countries met conditions that included halting imports of Russian oil.

Earlier this week – during a lengthy speech at the UN General Assembly – Trump also accused Nato allies of “funding the war against themselves” through their purchases of energy from Moscow.