<span style="color: #222222;">After threatening to hit Turkey with sanctions for buying a Russian missile defence system, the Trump administration is looking for a way to avoid doing so.<br />''<br />''Theoretically, the sanctions were to be automatic, mandated by Congress if NATO member Turkey opted to buy the S-400 system from NATO's main adversary Russia.<br />''<br />''But since Ankara began taking delivery of the system, designed to protect the country from air attacks, on July 12, President Donald Trump has signalled he is loath to punish the US ally economically over the deal.<br />''<br />''Legislators from both parties want the US leader to show firmness, after having pressed Turkey hard for two years not to follow through. But after meeting with Trump this week, Republican senators were not optimistic.<br />''<br />''Not known to his affinity for controversial autocrats, Trump says he has a close relationship with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. And the Turkish strongman has claimed that this relationship will permit him to escape sanctions. </span><br />