U.S. once again demands Turkey to abandon Russia's S-400s

Turkey must no longer possess the Russian S-400 air defense system to return to the U.S.-led program to manufacture and purchase F-35 jets, U.S. envoy Tom Barrack said.

"Turkiye must no longer operate or possess the S-400 system to return to the F-35 program," Barrack said.

The U.S. and Turkey are in discussions over the Russian missiles Ankara purchased and its “desire to rejoin” the F-35 program, according to Barrack.

The envoy said the U.S. hopes that talks will yield a breakthrough that meets both the security requirements of the U.S. and Turkey, and that Turkey must abandon the Russian missile system to resolve the dispute.

According to him, Trump and Erdogan’s close relationship between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and U.S. President Donald Trump has led “to the most fruitful conversations on this topic in nearly a decade".

“Our hope is that these talks will yield a breakthrough in the coming months that meets both the security requirements of the US and Turkey,” Barrack said.