MOSCOW (Dispatches) – Russia and Turkey are close to signing a new contract to supply Ankara with additional S-400 air defense units in the near future, the Interfax news agency cited the head of Russia’s Rosoboronexport arms exporter as saying on Monday.
Alexander Mikheyev said a new deal with Turkey on the delivery of the advanced medium-to-long-range air defense missile system is set to be signed soon.
Mikheyev made the remarks at the Army-2021 international military-technical forum on Monday, saying “the consultations continue and are at the final stage. We will start formalizing a contract with our partners soon.”
Moscow and Ankara signed an agreement in 2017 to deliver S-400 to Turkey, making it the first NATO member to purchase the air defense missile system from Russia.
Turkey’s initial purchase of S-400s from Russia strained ties with the United States and its NATO allies. Washington sanctioned Ankara and has threatened to impose new sanctions if it buys more major arms systems from Moscow.
The U.S. claims that the Russian missile systems are not compatible with the military hardware within the Western military alliance.
The Turkish government, however, stresses that it needs more air defense systems and the deal falls well within its rights to acquire armaments from various sources.