Turkey Continues to Consider Purchasing More S-400 Air Defense Systems from Russia
Turkey continues to consider purchasing another regiment of the S-400 air defense systems, Ismail Demir, president of the Defense Industries Presidency, said on Tuesday.
"Talks about buying a second regiment of the S-400, which was planned when signing the agreement (with Russia), are ongoing," he said on TPT television.
"We signed an agreement for delivery of two S-400 regiments. That’s what Turkey agreed to from the very beginning," he added, TASS reported.
Russia and Turkey in 2017 signed a contract for the supply of S-400 air defense systems by Moscow to Ankara. Turkey was the first NATO country to acquire these systems from Russia.
Ankara's decision caused a sharply negative reaction from the United States and the alliance as a whole. The United States isn’t giving up on efforts to get Turkey to turn down Russian air defense systems.
As Turkey didn’t give in to pressure and didn’t get rid of the S-400, Washington excluded Ankara from the American program for the production of the fifth-generation F-35 fighter.