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Warmest ties in years between NATO countries with biggest

armies

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Turkish leader hopes to overcome sanctions for F-35s

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Trump, Erdogan aligned on Syria - but not Israel

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Boeing ( BA ) aircraft among expected trade deals

(Updates with meeting begins, paragraphs 1-5)

By Jeff Mason, Steve Holland and Tuvan Gumrukcu

WASHINGTON, Sept 25 (Reuters) -

President Donald Trump suggested the U.S. could lift

sanctions on Turkey and allow it to buy U.S. F-35 jets as he

kicked off talks with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, but said

he wanted Ankara to stop purchases of Russian oil.

Erdogan's first visit to the White House in about six

years comes at a time when Ankara is keen to take advantage of a

U.S. administration eager to make deals in return for big-ticket

arms and trade agreements.

Seated side by side in the Oval Office, Trump called Erdogan

a "very tough man" and said he would like to see Turkey stop

purchases of Russian oil.

Turkey, Hungary and Slovakia are the main European

purchasers of Russian oil and Trump is pressing for them to

stop.

"I'd like to have him stop buying any oil from Russia

while Russia continues this rampage against Ukraine," Trump said

of Erdogan.

Asked whether he was willing to make a deal to sell

F-35s to Turkey, Trump told reporters: "I think he'll be

successful in buying the things that he wants to buy."

Trump also said he could lift sanctions against Turkey

"very soon," and that "if we have a good meeting, almost

immediately."

He said they would discuss the issue in their Oval

Office talks followed by lunch.

Former President Joe Biden had kept Turkey at arm's

length partly over what it saw as the fellow NATO member's close

ties with Russia. Under Trump, who views Moscow more favorably

and has closer personal ties with Erdogan, Ankara is hoping for

a better relationship.

Trump and Erdogan - both seen as increasingly autocratic by

their critics at home - had a checkered relationship during the

Republican president's first term. But since his return to the

White House, their interests have aligned on Syria - source of

the biggest bilateral strain in the past - where the U.S. and

Turkey now both strongly back the central government.

They remain sharply at odds over U.S. ally Israel's attacks

on Gaza, which Ankara calls a genocide - a potential wild card

in what are otherwise expected to be friendly and transactional

talks in the Oval Office.

U.S. SANCTIONS BLOCK F-35 SALES

The mood shift has renewed Turkish hopes that Trump and

Erdogan, who have exchanged mutual praise, can find a way around

U.S. sanctions imposed by Trump himself in 2020 over Turkey's

acquisition of Russian S-400 missile defenses.

That, in turn, could pave the way for Ankara to buy Lockheed

Martin's ( LMT ) advanced F-35 fighter jets, for which it was

both a buyer and manufacturer until it was barred over the

S-400s.

Erdogan has said the defense industry, including the topic

of F-35s and ongoing negotiations over 40 F-16 jets Ankara also

wants, would be a focus of the meeting, along with regional

wars, energy and trade.

A U.S. official said Washington had in recent days drafted a

statement of intent - a document used to facilitate talks - for

several sales to Turkey, including the new F-16s that would

bolster its existing fleet.

Turkey asked for advanced equipment and modifications on the

F-16s in their order, making the jets cost more than a standard

F-35, the official said. But F-35s were omitted from the draft

statement because the U.S. cannot legally sell them while Turkey

has the S-400s, the person added.

Turkish government officials did not immediately comment on

the F-16 costs.

Turkey, NATO's second-largest army, wants to ramp up air

power to counter what it sees as growing threats in the Middle

East, Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea, where it

neighbours Russia and Ukraine.