Turkey on Friday freed the long detained US pastor Andrew Brunson. He later in the day left Turkey for Germany and the United States. On Saturday, he arrived at the White House, where Trump met him.

His release has removed a major irritant in Ankara-Washington ties, as the United States has punished Turkey in August by imposing sanctions on two Turkish ministers and doubling tariffs on aluminum and steel imports from Turkey.

Turkey then retaliated by raising tariffs on US imports and boycotting US-made electronics, sparking one of the worst diplomatic rows between the NATO allies.

However, Trump on Monday denied the possibility of relaxing sanctions against Turkey over the release of Brunson, saying "that was not part of the deal."

"We had no deal with Turkey. We don't make deal -- any deals for hostages or prisoners," he said.

Xinhua/Reuters/AP