Delivery of the Patriot surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) to the Turkish Armed Forces is linked with a number of issues, said Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlut Cavusoglu, Trend reports citing the Turkish media.
He pointed out that Turkey also intends to organize
production of the American Patriot SAMs, as agreed with Russia, which also intends to supply the Turkish Air Force with its S-400 SAMs.
Earlier, the US administration made a decision to sell the Patriot surface-to-air missile systems to Turkey for a total of $3.5 billion.
The United States is actively taking steps to prevent the purchase of Russian S-400 SAMs by Turkey. Washington has warned Ankara, in particular, that in case of acquisition of these systems from Moscow, the US may refuse to sell its fifth-generation F-35 multi-role combat aircraft to Turkey.
The initial reports of negotiations between Russia and Turkey regarding the S-400 came in November 2016. The signing of a contract was confirmed by the Russian side on Sept. 12, 2017.
The Turkish Minister of National Defense Hulusi Akar stated that the deployment of S-400 is set to begin in October 2019.
Turkey is the first NATO member to acquire SAMs of such type from Russia.
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