Turkey says working to resolve impasse on F-35 jets in U.S. Congress

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan welcomes Turkish Minister of Defense Hulusi Akar to the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., February 22, 2019. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo

ANKARA (Reuters) - U.S. officials are telling Turkey that it would be "impossible" to pass the sale of Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jets through Congress due to Ankara's procurement of S-400 defence systems from Russia, but Turkey is working to resolve the issue, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said on Friday.

Speaking at an interview with the state-owned Anadolu news agency, Akar said Turkey was trying to establish an environment where its purchase of S-400 missile defence systems from Russia did not impact its procurement of the F-35 jets.

Talks with the United States on purchasing Raytheon Co. Patriot defence systems are continuing, Akar said, adding that the S-400 systems would begin to be installed in October.

(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu and Ece Toksabay; Editing by Dominic Evans)