ISTANBUL, March 26, (AP): US Secretary of State Marco Rubio "requested Turkey’s support for peace in Ukraine” during his first meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, the State Department said late Tuesday. Fidan is on a two-day trip to Washington, where he is seeking to shore up Turkey-US ties that became increasingly frayed under Joe Biden’s presidency.

The visit follows a telephone call between the countries’ presidents that Donald Trump’s special envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff described as "transformational.” Turkey has maintained close ties with Russia and Ukraine during the three-year war and has previously offered to mediate talks. It hosted unsuccessful peace talks in 2022.

Under the Biden administration, Ankara’s ongoing trade with Russia drew repeated warnings from Washington. Rubio and Fidan discussed efforts to establish a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency reported, adding that Ankara supported US initiatives. Rubio also "encouraged even greater economic partnership” between the NATO allies, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Fidan will hope to make progress on removing US sanctions on Turkey as well as allowing it to rejoin the F-35 fighter jet program, which it helped develop with other NATO partners before it was kicked out in 2019. During his first term, Trump also imposed sanctions on Turkey over its acquisition of Russian S-400 air defense missile systems.

Further technical talks would be held to resolve "existing problems,” Anadolu reported. While the Anadolu report cited "diplomatic sources,” the U.S. statement did not mention defense issues. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is facing nationwide protests over the imprisonment of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu and other opposition figures.

The State Department’s Bruce said Rubio had "expressed concerns” over the arrests and demonstrations. Trump’s lack of emphasis on the human rights records of US allies is likely to have emboldened Erdogan’s move against Imamoglu, the main challenger to his 22 years in power, analysts say. In the immediate aftermath of the mayor’s arrest last week, Bruce said the administration would "not comment on the internal decision-marking processes of another country.”