Britain signed a preliminary deal allowing Ankara to operate the jets while Germany approved delivery of 40 of them to Turkey, which has relied on both foreign purchases and its own defence industry projects, including domestic jets, to ramp up deterrence. Beyond the Eurofighters, Ankara is also in talks with Washington to purchase 40 F-16s.

Turkey and Britain have signed a memorandum of understanding to allow Ankara to be a user of Eurofighter Typhoon fighters, in a big step toward securing the procurement of the jets over which Turkey has been negotiating for years.

The United Kingdom and Turkey have signed a letter of intent to advance a potential deal to export Eurofighter Typhoon jets to Ankara, the countries' Defence Ministries announced on Wednesday. Turkey plans to purchase 40 of the British-assembled fighter aircraft.

Russia and Ukraine are to hold a third round of negotiations in Istanbul, with expectations low for progress on a peace agreement to end the full-scale war that’s in its fourth year. A Russian delegation led by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky left Moscow on Wednesday for the talks in Turkey with a Ukrainian team led by Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov.