Hopes that Turkey will free a North Carolina pastor who has been held in a Turkish prison on trumped-up terror charges for 21 months are high ahead of his third courtroom hearing on July 18, amid a mix of cajoling and threats from Washington. Andrew Brunson’s release would help ease tensions between the two NATO allies, whose ties have taken a nosedive over US support for Kurdish militants in Syria.

The most immediate cause for optimism is the positive body language displayed by President Donald Trump during his encounter with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at last week’s NATO summit in Brussels. The two were all smiles as they were photographed exchanging fist bumps together with French President Emmanuel Macron.

Trump reportedly mouthed, “I like him, I like him” in reference to the Turkish leader. The presidential banter was followed with a July 16 phone call between Trump and Erdogan to discuss the latest developments in Syria, notably the Manbij road map but also Brunson, the pro-government daily Sabah reported. Trump has repeatedly called on Erdogan to free the pastor and took to Twitter to air his views on the case.

Assorted members of Congress have gone further, pressing for sanctions against Turkey in separate bills over the unlawful detention of US citizens and Ankara’s plans to acquire Russian-made S-400 missiles. Washington argues that the Russian system would compromise NATO’s security, and Congress is demanding the Pentagon suspend delivery of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey until the S-400 deal is scrapped. Turkey insists it will buy the Russian hardware because its efforts to acquire the US-built Patriot missiles, in the words of Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, "didn't work."