On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that Turkey and all U.S. allies should refrain from making further purchases of Russian weaponry, according to Reuters.
Reuters has reported that speaking at a virtual event at Foreign Press Center (FPC), Blinken warned Ankara and others from further purchases weapon systems from Russia.
“It’s also very important going forward that Turkey, and for that matter all U.S. allies and partners, avoid future purchases of Russian weaponry, including additional S-400s,” Blinken said.
“Any significant transactions with Russian defense entities, again, could be subject to the law, to CAATSA, and that’s separate from and in addition to the sanctions that have already been imposed,” he said, referring to Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act, which is designed to dissuade countries from buying military equipment from Russia.
U.S.-Turkish relations have been strained over issues ranging from Turkey’s purchase of Russian S-400 air defense systems – over which it was the target of U.S. sanctions – to policy differences on Syria, human rights and a U.S. court case targeting Turkey’s majority state-owned Halkbank.
