Washington, DC - US President Donald Trump on Thursday urged Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan to stop buying Russian oil over the war in Ukraine, while hinting that he may drop a ban on Ankara buying US stealth fighter jets.

Erdogan was making his first visit to the White House since 2019 – the same year Washington kicked Turkey out of the F-35 jet program over the NATO ally's purchase of a Russian air defense system.

Trump said they would talk "very seriously" about ending the rift over the high-tech planes, and said he was ready to lift sanctions against Ankara over the Russian S-400 missiles if the meeting went well.

But he also pushed the key issue of Ukraine with Erdogan, whose country has refused to join international sanctions on Moscow and has even stepped up its purchases of Russian oil.

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"I'd like to have him stop buying any oil from Russia while Russia continues this rampage," Trump told reporters at the start of the two-hour meeting in the Oval Office.

Trump said Erdogan was "very respected" by both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and "could have a big influence if he wanted to. Right now, he's being very neutral."

"The best thing he could do is not buy oil and gas from Russia," Trump added.

Turkey is Russia's fourth-biggest trading partner, according to Europe's Bruegel Institute, which tallied $52 billion worth of exchanges last year – largely fossil fuels and electronics.

Trump, who said in a major shift earlier this week that he now believed Ukraine can win the war, insists Western allies must stop buying Russian oil and gas before he imposes any more sanctions on Moscow.