Constructive negotiations with Russia are necessary to resolve the issue related to the Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said, commenting on reports of Ankara's readiness to transfer them to a third country.
On Friday, the Hurriyet newspaper, citing its own sources, reported that Turkey may sell Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems to one of the Persian Gulf countries. Moscow has been in contact with Ankara on the future fate of the S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems previously supplied to it and will continue contacts on this topic, Russian Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in turn.
"It is necessary to conduct constructive negotiations with Russia (on the issue of the S-400 air defense system)," Fidan said in an interview with National.
According to him, the Turkish government is holding consultations and analyzing various solutions.
Fidan stressed that he could not yet name the countries that could be involved in this process, as well as reveal a possible settlement model.
According to him, Russia, as a supplier of S-400 complexes, should also participate in the negotiations, since without its participation the implementation of possible agreements is impossible.
In 2017, Ankara signed a contract with Moscow for the supply of a C-400 regimental kit, which it received in the summer and autumn of 2019. At the same time, the United States demanded that Russian systems be abandoned in favor of Patriot, but Turkey did not agree to this. As a punishment, Washington excluded it from the supply program of the latest F-35 fighter jets and imposed sanctions against the leaders of the military-industrial complex under the CAATSA law.
This week, the head of the White House, Donald Trump, announced the lifting of restrictions. He noted that the presence of Russian air defense systems in Ankara does not bother him in any way. But, according to him, the decision on the supply of F-35 has yet to be made. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in turn, said that he had received a promise from Washington to supply five of the latest fighters.
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