The United States offered Turkey to send its S-400 to Ukraine, but Ankara refused, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.
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“There were several proposals from the United States regarding the S-400. We were told: give us control. This is a proposal that affects our independence. Where is our independence then?” he said.
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According to the minister, Ankara has repeatedly received various proposals on the S-400 from the US administration, and if it had been accommodating, it would not have current problems with Washington.
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“We were even offered to send them to Ukraine, we said it was impossible. There were such proposals,” Cavusoglu added.
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In 2017, Turkey signed a contract with Russia for the supply of the S-400 regimental set, which it received in the summer and autumn of 2019. At the same time, the United States demanded to abandon Russian systems in favor of Patriot, but Ankara did not agree to this. As punishment, Washington has excluded Turkey from the program to supply the latest F-35 fighter jets and imposed sanctions on the leaders of the military-industrial complex under the CAATSA law (“On Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions”).
