His strong disapproval of the possibility Turkey get additional arrays of it Russian anti-missile system S-400 the senator expressed Robert Menendez. The reaction of the chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations followed the publication of the Russian news agency TASS, which claims that Turkey is preparing to sign a new agreement with Russia for the supply of the S-400 system.

It is recalled that Ankara’s intentions have not yet been fully clarified, as it remains to be confirmed whether Turkey really intends to sign a new defense contract with Russia, as the TASS agency claims. In any case, the possibility of acquiring a new S-400 complex remains unresolved, since this is provided for by the contract already signed with the Russian side.

Both scenarios are strongly opposed by Senator Menendez, who calls the purchase of additional S-400s a clear violation of US sanctions and calls on Turkey to refuse any military cooperation with Vladimir Putin, whom he calls a war criminal.

“I am deeply concerned by reports that Turkey is considering further purchases of the Russian S-400 missile defense system, in yet another clear violation of US sanctions imposed by the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act.

As Russia continues its brutal and illegal invasion of Ukraine, Turkey has the responsibility and the opportunity to unequivocally demonstrate its commitment to NATO and regional peace and security by completely rejecting any military cooperation with a war criminal like Vladimir Putin.

Given the ongoing competitive violations of Greek airspace and the delay in the process of Sweden and Finland joining NATO, I sincerely hope that Turkey will change course and fulfill its obligations to the defense alliance, being a constructive partner in the region that we hope it can be. The United States must make it clear that any expansion of Turkey’s ties to the Russian defense sector would be a grave mistake that will further jeopardize the security of our allies and partners in NATO and across Europe.”

Initial response from the State Department

Answering a question from the Hellas Journal website about the possibility of concluding a new agreement providing for the supply of additional S-400s to Turkey, a State Department spokesman expressed US disagreement with such a move. As he characteristically noted, “We have seen these publications, but we are not aware of any new developments on this issue. Our position on the purchase of S-400s in Turkey is well known. We refer you to the Turkish government to discuss its defense procurement plans. Given Russia’s ongoing brutal and unjustified invasion of Ukraine, now more than ever we are calling on all countries to avoid doing business with Russia’s defense sector, which puts them at risk of sanctions.”

Later that day (July 16), State Department spokesman Ned Price took over, acting in the same vein during a standard press briefing. However, he seems to have taken a wait-and-see attitude, as he did not want to announce any changes to the F-16 fighter upgrade until the situation was fully clarified. Asked if buying a second batch of S-400s could change the US government’s stance on the F-16, Ned Price said: “Of course we’ll have to wait and see what happens, but we don’t know. new developments on this issue, and therefore we will refer you to the Turkish authorities to discuss their plans.

However, the objections of the State Department are not limited to the scenario presented by the TASS agency, which concerns the signing of a new contract between the Russian and Turkish sides.

Asked by APE-MPE about whether Washington was asking not to continue the current contract for the supply of the second S-400 complex, the representative of the US State Department explained that the US was not just asking not to make new purchases, but to continue to urge Turkey to completely abandon from the S-400 system it already owns.

“We have seen these reports and are not aware of any new developments on this matter. Our position on Turkey’s purchase of the S-400 is well known: we call on Turkey to no longer own the S-400 system. Turkey’s acquisition of the S-400 is in direct conflict with the commitments made by all allies at the 2016 NATO summit in Warsaw to reduce reliance on Russian equipment. We refer you to the Turkish government to discuss its defense procurement plans.”

^{Source: RES-IPE}