Turkey says buying Russian defence system should not trigger U.S. sanctions

FILE PHOTO: New S-400 "Triumph" surface-to-air missile system after its deployment at a military base outside the town of Gvardeysk near Kaliningrad, Russia. Picture taken March 11, 2019. REUTERS/Vitaly Nevar/File Photo - Copyright Vitaly Nevar(Reuters)

By Reuters

Published on 15/04/2019 - 16:32•Updated 19/04/2024 - 20:48

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Turkey's purchase of Russian air defence missile systems should not trigger U.S. sanctions because Ankara is not an adversary of Washington and remains committed to the NATO alliance, Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said on Monday.

Akar also told a conference in Washington that Turkey expected to remain not just a buyer of advanced F-35 stealth fighter jets but also one of the partner countries involved in its production, despite U.S. warnings that it would be shut out of the F-35 project if it buys the Russian S-400 defence system.