Moscow is positive about the request by Ankara to speed up the delivery of its S-400 air defense systems to Turkey, Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s Foreign Minister, said after talks with visiting Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu.
“In response to the request by our Turkish partners to speed up the originally planned delivery terms, we are reacting positively,” Lavrov told journalists in the Russian capital on Wednesday. The FM refrained from announcing any dates, only saying that the implementation of the S-400 deal is among the issues “now discussed in practical terms by specialists; they aren’t for public disclosure.”
Moscow and Ankara signed a $2.5 billion agreement on the procurement of Russia’s most advanced S-400 Triumph (known to NATO as the SA-21 Growler) system in December. The delivery of the first complexes to Turkey is scheduled to begin in early 2020, Russian presidential aide for the defense industry cooperation, Vladimir Kozhin, told Rossiya 24 channel on Monday. He noted that Russia had accommodated Turkey’s wish to accelerate the implementation of the contract.
“The sooner Turkey receives [the S-400 missile system] the better. Works are continuing to this end,” Cavusoglu said to the same question, as cited by the Hurriyet Daily News.
The deal has strained the already uneasy relations between Turkey and its NATO ally, the US. Washington staunchly opposed the deal, warning Ankara in October that it might face “necessary consequences” in the event that the deal plays out. Buying a Russian-made system, which is not interoperable with the NATO infrastructure, might prevent Turkey from being a part of any future air-defense NATO system, the US military warned.
Eric - thanks - let me take a look at those before I post that
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