WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th June, 2019) US Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan said he would speak with Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar on Wednesday to receive an update on Ankara's plan to acquire the Russian S-400 missile defense system.
"Tomorrow, I'll have a phone call with Minister Akar just so we can update each other on progress," Shanahan told reporters on Tuesday. "I'm hoping tomorrow for he and I to exchange views and get an update on what kind of progress we've made."
On Friday, Shanahan in a letter to Akar formally informed Turkey that it would not be allowed to receive the F-35 fighter jets it had already purchased if it went ahead with the S-400 deal. He added that the Pentagon would end F-35 training for Turkish pilots on July 31 if Ankara goes ahead with the S-400 purchase.
Shanahan clarified on Tuesday that the Pentagon had not suspended any of the F-35 maintenance activity.
Earlier on Tuesday, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said all the agreements on Russian S-400 air defense systems deliveries to Turkey are being implemented as scheduled.
Meanwhile, Ismail Demir, the Turkish undersecretary for defense industries, said on Monday that the United States had not responded to Turkey's proposal to establish a joint working group to settle disagreements surrounding the S-400 deal between Ankara and Moscow.
In December 2017, Moscow and Ankara signed an agreement for the delivery of the state-of-the-art S-400 systems. The Turkish decision to purchase the Russian missile defense systems angered the former's closest NATO ally, the United States. Washington has repeatedly relayed its concerns to Turkey that the systems might be incompatible with NATO standards, but Turkey has rebuffed all concerns.
