Erdogan on Idea of Giving S-400 to Ukraine: Question Closed, Missile Systems Turkey's Property
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The question of S-400 deliveries to Ukraine is closed, since the missile systems are Turkey's property, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday.
The statement was made just days after Fahrettin Altun, the head of the Communications Department of the Turkish presidential Administration, penned an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, where he reckoned that the idea of handing over the air defense systems Ankara purchased from Russia to Ukraine was "unrealistic".
"Though quite unrealistic today, this idea presents an opportunity to discuss the problems Turkey has experienced lately with the West," Altun wrote in response to a Reuters report suggesting that Washington had informally discussed with Turkey the possibility of sending Russian S-400s to Kiev, Sputnik reported.
Instead, Altun argued that the West should supply Turkey with F-35 fighter jets and Patriot missile systems without preconditions to help mend ties.
Aside from clarifying his stance on the S-400 idea, Erdogan told reporters that he was planning to talk to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, at the end of the week in order to discuss the outcome of the NATO summit in Brussels held this week. The Turkish president made it clear that Ankara will not be joining its NATO allies in imposing sanctions against Moscow, especially when it comes to the energy needs.
"We are also evaluating certain UN lines in terms of sanctions, but let's not forget that we cannot put aside our relations with Russia," the Turkish leader told reporters on the plane upon his return from Brussels.
"There are discussions about carrying out transactions in rubles, that is, in their own national currency. We have already proposed this to Russia, we have said that it is possible to do this in rubles and Turkish lira. Now we are completely proven right, and they say that they can do it," Hurriyet quoted Erdogan as saying on Friday.
