The US has warned Turkey not to expand military cooperation with Russia
The United States of America has warned Turkey not to expand cooperation with Russia in the field of the defense industry, following yesterday's announcements of a new contract between Ankara and Moscow for the delivery of Russian S-400 missile systems, the Turkish newspaper "Syozcu" reported in its electronic edition. ".
"In a situation where Russia's brutal and unjustified war against Ukraine is now more than ever, it is vitally important that all countries avoid cooperation with the Russian defense sector," the newspaper reports the statement of State Department spokesman Ned Price.
"We will have to wait and see what happens, but we don't know if there is a new development in the matter," he says.
Price did not say whether a second shipment of Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems would prompt President Joe Biden's administration to reconsider its plans to sell F-16 warplanes to Turkey.
The Russian agency "TASS" yesterday quoted Dmitry Shugaev, the head of the Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSVTS), who said that a contract was signed for the delivery of several anti-aircraft missile systems "S-400" to Turkey, with the document also it also foresees the local production of individual components for the system.
Later sources from the Turkish Ministry of Defense on the occasion of such information clarified that it is not a question of a new one, but of the implementation of the originally concluded agreement, the Turkish television channel "TRT Haber" reported.