Turkey’s president said Wednesday that Ankara has finalized an agreement to purchase Russia’s S-400 missile defense system, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
“We concluded the S-400 issue, signed a deal with the Russians and will start co-production,” said Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, speaking in a televised interview.
“Later, we may work with S-500s,” the next generation system, Erdoğan said.
US and NATO officials have repeatedly warned Ankara that the Russian system cannot be integrated into the NATO air and missile defense system and that purchasing it would end the talks for Patriot missiles, jeopardize Turkey’s purchase of Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 fighter jets and possibly result in US sanctions.
But several Turkish government officials insisted that Turkey will not go back on its agreement with Russia, even if it were to also seek to buy Patriots.