WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th July, 2019) The United States will continue to raise concerns with Turkey over its purchase of Russian S-400 air defense systems, but does not have a timetable to impose sanctions under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said on Thursday.
"As it relates to CAATSA, there is no timetable in the legislation," Ortagus said. "We continue, of course, to talk to the Turks about this and to reiterate our concern.
Ortagus emphasized that Turkey is a NATO ally and an important partner in the global fight against the Islamic State terror group (banned in Russia), but Washington has undertaken significant actions to address Ankara's purchase of Russian S-400 systems.
"Sanctioning a NATO ally is very, very serious action," Ortagus said.
On July 17, the White House said in a statement that Turkey's purchase of the Russian S-400 had made it impossible to keep Ankara in the F-35 fighter jet program. Washington subsequently said it was working to unwind its relationship with Turkey in the F-35 program.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry called the US move a unilateral step which might bring irreparable damage to bilateral relations.
Top Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said in letter to Trump that he must impose sanctions on Ankara for accepting S-400 defense systems or US measures against Moscow will suffer.
Russia and Turkey signed an agreement for the delivery of four S-400 batteries in December 2017. The deliveries started earlier in July.
The United States and NATO member states criticized the agreement and expressed concerns over the S-400 system's incompatibility with NATO's air and missile defense systems.
