WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th June, 2019) Greece considers Turkey's purchase of Russian S-400 air defense systems as a problem for the region, Greek Minister of National Defense Evangelos Apostolakis said at a defense conference on Thursday.
"This is one of the problems because S-400s from the Turkish side put the air defense systems in the area in a different situation," Apostolakis told the audience at the US Institute of Peace in Washington.
Apostolakis explained that Greece will now have to conduct defense plans in a different manner in order to factor in the presence of new weapons systems.
"F-35 [jets] and S-400 completely change the power in the area," Apostolakis said.
In December 2017, Moscow and Ankara signed a loan agreement for the delivery of the S-400 air defense systems to Turkey. The first shipments of the S-400 are expected in June.
The United States and its NATO allies have criticized Turkish military cooperation with Russia, saying the S-400 air defense systems present security concerns given their incompatibility those in use by NATO.
Turkey is one of the participants in the US F-35 jet program. The United States has threatened Turkey with sanctions for its planned acquisition of S-400 air defense systems and repeatedly said it may delay or cancel sales of F-35 aircraft to Turkey.
Turkish officials have said that purchasing of military equipment is a sovereign right and have ruled out the possibility of abandoning plans to acquire the S-400 systems.
