Speaking at a press conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken could not name a timeline for congressional notification on the supply of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey due to the lack of approval of the sale by Congress itself.

Earlier, Blinken acknowledged in an interview with Turkey's NTV channel that the US cannot sell F-16 fighter jets to Turkey without congressional approval and the concerns of lawmakers need to be addressed.

The U.S. had earlier issued a formal notice to Turkey to exclude it from the program of supplying the latest F-35 fighter jets because of Ankara's purchase of Russian S-400 air defense systems. Washington canceled a joint memorandum on the F-35 with Turkey, signing it with the seven remaining partners in the F-35 project - the UK, Italy, the Netherlands, Australia, Denmark, Canada and Norway.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan subsequently announced a U.S. offer to buy other fighters, but not the fifth but the fourth generation.