Ankara has no plans to abandon its purchase of Russia’s S-400 air defense systems, Turkish Presidential Spokesman Ibrahim Kalin told the TRT broadcaster.
"The decision on the S-400 systems was not made overnight, which is what we told our American colleagues. The S-400 agreement was signed about four months before the CAATSA [Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act]," he said.
From the legal standpoint, U.S. statements are inconsistent. The U.S. said that it would not hold talks on the matter at the moment," Kalin pointed out.
Moscow and Ankara signed a contract for the delivery of the S-400 systems in 2017. Turkey became the first NATO country to purchase these systems from Russia, drawing a negative reaction from the United States and NATO in general.
In particular, Washington said that "Turkey’s decision to purchase Russian S-400 air defense systems renders its continued involvement with the F-35 impossible." The US also threatens to impose sanctions on Turkey over the S-400 deal but Ankara warned that such a move would not go unanswered.
