Erdogan, Trump discuss Ukraine, Syria, defence issues, Turkey says

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan spoke by telephone with U.S. President Donald Trump and discussed efforts to extremity the warfare betwixt Russia and Ukraine and to reconstruct stableness successful Syria, Erdogan's bureau said connected Sunday.

He told Trump that Turkey supports his "decisive and nonstop initiatives" to extremity the warfare betwixt Russia and Ukraine and that Turkey volition proceed to strive for a "just and lasting peace", the connection said.

Erdogan besides spoke of "the value of jointly contributing to the lifting of sanctions connected Syria to reconstruct stability, marque the caller medication functional and enactment normalisation," the connection said, adding that this would alteration Syrians to instrumentality to their homeland.

Turkey besides expects steps from the United States regarding the combat against terrorism, taking into relationship Turkey's interests, it said.

In the conflict against Islamic State successful Syria, the United States is allied with a Syrian Kurdish militia that Turkey regards arsenic a violent group. Turkey has sharply criticised this U.S. stance arsenic a betrayal of a NATO ally.

Erdogan said it was indispensable to extremity CAATSA sanctions, finalise Ankara's F-16 procurement process and its re-participation successful the F-35 programme successful bid to make defence manufacture practice betwixt Turkey and the United States.

Ankara's past acquisition of Russian S-400 aerial defence systems prompted U.S. sanctions and Turkey's removal from the F-35 combatant pitchy programme successful 2019.

(Additional reporting by Can Sezer; Writing by Daren Butler, Editing by Louise Heavens)