Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said the first delivery of the Russian S-400 missile defence system would take place within 10 days, adding that there would be no US sanctions after he and US President Donald Trump discussed the purchase.
Speaking to reporters after the G20 summit in Japan, where he held bilateral talks with Trump, Erdogan said Trump had told him there would be no sanctions over the S-400 deal, after Trump said Turkey had been treated unfairly over the move.
“In our phone calls, when we come together bilaterally, Trump has not said so far: ‘We will impose these sanctions.’ On the S-400s, he said to me: ‘You are right.’ We carried this issue to a very advanced level. At this advanced level, Trump said: ‘This is injustice’. This is very important. I believe that we will overcome this process without any problems,” Erdogan said, according to NTV.
He said the two leaders had agreed to delegate officials to follow the issue, adding that Turkish and US foreign and defence ministers would “open the doors” to resolving the matter.
Turkish President also added that the US offered to supply it with Raytheon Co Patriot missiles instead of Russia’s S-400.
“One S-400 is worth three Patriots. If the conditions are even equal to the S-400 (deal), we would buy Patriots, but if they are not, then we have to think of our interests,” he said, quoted by NTV.
Erdogan also noted that the first delivery of the Russian S-400 missile defence system would take place within 10 days. In 2017, Moscow and Ankara signed an agreement for the delivery of the S-400 systems. The US condemned the move, claiming that the systems might be incompatible with NATO standards. Moreover, Washington threatened Ankara with sanctions over the acquisition and blackmailed the country, saying that the US will stop Turkish forces from flying and developing its F-35 jets.
Turkey, in turn, repeatedly stressed that the purchase of military equipment is a sovereign right and ruled out the possibility of abandoning plans to acquire the S-400 systems.
Source: Sputnik
