Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Friday that the Turkish authorities were working to solve the problem with the supply of US F-35 fighters, which Washington links with the acquisition by Ankara of Russian anti-aircraft missile systems S-400
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th March, 2019) Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Friday that the Turkish authorities were working to solve the problem with the supply of US F-35 fighters, which Washington links with the acquisition by Ankara of Russian anti-aircraft missile systems S-400.On Tuesday, US Department of State spokesperson Robert Palladino said that the United States had warned Turkey that its planned purchase of S-400s would put at risk Ankara's participation in the F-35 jet program and could lead to Washington imposing sanctions on Ankara.
"The intention to link the purchase of s-400 deliveries of the F-35 through the Congress is ineligible. Turkey is working on a solution to this problem," Akar told the Anadolu news agency.
In December 2017, Russia and Turkey signed a loan agreement to supply S-400s to Ankara, with 55 percent of the $2.5 billion contract being covered by the Russian loans.
In January, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Ankara was ready to consider the US proposal on deliveries of the Patriot air defense systems, but refused to abandon the S-400 missile systems deal with Russia as a potential precondition for the Ankara-Washington agreement.
