The United States has urged Turkey to abandon the purchase of the S-400 anti-aircraft missile system from Russia, warning Ankara of the consequences of its decision, Haberturk reported citing a source in Washington.
According to the Turkish newspaper, an unnamed American official expressed his concerns over Ankara’s purchase of Russian surface-to-air missile systems, explaining that they could “negatively influence the interoperability of NATO” and assuming that Washington could impose sanctions in response to the recently adopted law.
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The U.S. is seeking cooperation with Turkey to boost Turkish air defense capabilities as an alternative to Ankara’s purchase of Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile batteries.
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“The U.S. understands Turkey’s desire to improve its air defenses. But we are concerned and have said so publicly about potential acquisition of Russian S-400 missiles, which would have implications for NATO interoperability and which would potentially expose Turkey to sanctions due to the new sanctions law recently passed by Congress,” a U.S. administration official told the Hürriyet Daily News.
The S-400 Triumph (NATO reporting name: SA-21 Growler) is an air defence missile system developed by Almaz Central Design Bureau of Russia. The new system replaced the S-300P and S-200 air defence systems of the Russian Army.