Russia hopes to sign a new agreement that will provide Turkey with more S-400 missiles, Rosoboronexport group official.
"We hope to sign new contracts in the first half of 2020. But I would like to emphasize that military technical cooperation with Turkey is not limited to the S-400 supply. We have a plan." bigger plan ahead, "Alexander Mikheev, general manager of Russian arms export group Rosoboronexport, told RIA interview today.
According to the official, both Russia and Turkey are actively discussing the possibility of Ankara buying more S-400 missiles outside the signed contract, in which the talks mainly focus on financial issues.
Mikheev said that if the deal was signed, it would include a new batch of S-400 and some components of the missile system that could be produced in Turkey. The director general of the Russian arms export group added that US efforts to prevent other countries from buying Moscow military equipment were not as effective as Washington had hoped.
"People can see how confident India, China, Turkey and other countries are in the international arena. Many countries are outraged by US sanctions, which prevents them from developing their forces. own arms and military technical cooperation with Russia, "Mikheev added.
Turkey and Russia signed an agreement to buy $ 2.5 billion S-400 missile complexes in December 2017. The United States has repeatedly rejected the contract, arguing that the S-400 is incompatible with NATO's defense systems and threatens stealthy F-35 fighters.
President Trump has asked his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan to give up the S-400 and Washington is willing to sell Ankara Patriot systems instead. However, President Erdogan said he told Trump that Turkey would not give up the S-400 missiles, because Ankara and Moscow had a very strong relationship.