Russia says talks continue with Turkey for second missile defense deal
Turkey and Russia are still negotiating the terms for delivery of a second consignment of S-400 advanced missile defenses, the head of Russia’s Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation said. “The sale of a new batch of S-400s to Turkey is still on our agenda; it did not fall of our agenda. We are trying to agree on the system's scope, the delivery date and other conditions,” Dmitry Shugaev was quoted as saying by Sputnik on May 7.
Duvar English
Russia and Turkey are discussing a potential delivery of a new batch of Russian S-400 missile systems, Sputnik cited a senior official at a Russian military cooperation agency as saying.
“The sale of a new batch of S-400s to Turkey is still on our agenda; it did not fall of our agenda. We are trying to agree on the system's scope, the delivery date and other conditions,” the head of Russia’s Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation told a Russian defense magazine.
“We are currently in a dialogue; we hope that in a foreseeable future we will meet on a common ground,” the official, Dmitry Shugaev, said.
The contract for the first batch of the S-400s did not have a clause regarding a joint production with Turkey, but there is a possibility that the second contract might allow Turkey to manufacture the system jointly with Russia to a certain extent, Shugaev said.
Russia said in September 2017 that it had signed a $2.5 billion contract for supplies of its S-400 missile systems with Turkey. The first batch under the contract was delivered to Ankara by air transport in July 2019.
Ankara's purchase of the S-400s has been the source of a conflict between Turkey and the United States, which says that the system is incompatible with NATO systems.
Last year, Washington removed Turkey from the F-35 programme, in which Ankara was a manufacturer and buyer. Washington still hopes to persuade its ally to “walk away” from the Russian systems.