Washington is trying to persuade Ankara to buy a Patriot missile defense system instead of the Russian S400

Continuity to try to stop the Turkish-Russian rapprochement, the United States is trying to persuade Turkey to buy a Patriot missile defense system instead of the Russian S-400, which, if purchased by Ankara, could be a sticking point between the two NATO allies.

A US law provides for sanctions on any country that signs contracts with Russian arms companies, and Turkey is therefore threatened if its purchase of the S-400 system is confirmed.

Tina Kaidanow, the State Department’s political and military affairs officer said that, “Our goal, above all, is to make sure that the systems our allies buy are in line with our strategic relationship”.

“Can we convince our foreign friends and partners that this is a really serious issue”? She asked.

“We hope that they will take this into consideration when they think about buying arms”.

“We want them to understand what are the drawbacks, the real and serious drawbacks, of some purchases, including the purchase of S-400 Russians, and instead continue to focus on our missile systems”, she said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been re-elected and has broad powers, is in conflict with NATO on several points, including his declared intention to buy and deploy the S-400 anti-aircraft missile system.

This means that the Turkish defenses will not be compatible with the systems of Ankara’s Western allies and expose them to the violation of US sanctions aimed at blocking the export of Russian weapons.

US lawmakers are looking into ways to punish Turkey if it buys Russian missiles.