US offer not ‘as good as S-400’: Turkey says no turning back on missile deal with Russia

Turkish president Recep Erdogan has said a US consolation offer of Patriot air defense systems was no match for the offer made by Russia on its S-400. Turkey won’t step out of the deal with Moscow, despite US pressure, he added.

The White House has been threatening NATO-ally Turkey with sanctions for quite a while already, urging it to ditch the $2.5-billion S-400 accord with Moscow. The US cites security concerns and incompatibility of the Russian equipment with American systems.

“There is an agreement here and we are committed to it,” Erdogan countered, when speaking to journalists. “It is out of the question for us to take a step back.”

The president added Ankara had proposed to work with Washington on the issue and had asked the White House to offer Ankara a better deal on its military gear. However, Washington failed to do that.

Unfortunately the US side has not given us an offer as good as the S400s

As Ankara expects to receive the first S-400 batteries this month, the US is persisting in urging Ankara to drop the purchase.

Turkey is not the only state that faces retaliation from Washington for military shopping in Russia. India also had to fight off American threats of sanctions for purchasing an advanced surface-to-air missile system from Moscow last year.

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