Former US Special Representative for Syria Engagement James Jeffrey told Deutsche Welle Turkish that improvement of the relations between Turkey and the US is less likely during Biden’s administration.

Jeffrey added that President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan failed to ‘take advantage of the opportunities’ and take steps for mutual concessions in regard to several issues for which US ex-President Donald Trump had offered concessions to Turkey.

The relations of allies in NATO have escalated over the past year due to several issues, including Turkey’s purchase of Russian S-400 missile systems and the threats of sanctions against the Turkish state Halkbank for circumventing the sanctions against Iran, as well as Turkey’s position on Libya which is at war.

The former US Special Representative for Syria Engagement pinpointed the Ankara-Washington crisis over the S-400 missile systems as an obstacle for improvement of the bilateral ties.

Jeffrey also said Turkey needs to discuss with Russia its concerns regarding the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Kurdish People’s Defense Forces (YPG) in northeastern Syria.