Turkey rejects US request to send S 400 missiles to Ukraine

Turkey has rejected the idea of ​​sending a Russian-made S-400 missile defense system to Ukraine to help it fight off invading Russian forces.

"The request is unrealistic, it provides an opportunity to discuss issues Turkey has recently faced with NATO and the US," Communications Director Fahrettin Altun said Wednesday in an opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal.
Reports over the past week circulated that the United States had informally spoken to Turkey about the unlikely possibility of transferring the S-400s to Ukraine as it tried to fend off the Russian invasion that began on February 24.

Altun also cited an article published last week which stated that if Turkey complied with the request, there would be an improvement in relations between Washington and Ankara.

The US will send F-35 fighter jets which have been banned because Turkey bought the Russian S-400 and the US will also send Patriot missiles to Ankara "without preconditions."

Ismail Demir, head of the Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB), on Wednesday also said Turkey had no plans to abandon the S-400 system, which has become a point of contention between Washington and Ankara.
"This is not a topic of discussion for us. We discussed this issue in the past. Abandoning (the use of the S-400) is impossible," Demir told Russia-based Izvestia newspaper.
Ankara initially ordered more than 100 F-35 jets, built by Lockheed Martin Corp., but the US removed Turkey from the program in 2019 after acquiring the S-400 system.

Turkey has called the move unfair and demanded reimbursement for the $1.4 billion (TL 20.7 billion) payment.

Turkey's purchase of the S-400 has also triggered US sanctions. In December 2020, Washington blacklisted Demir SSB, and three other employees.

Washington argues that the S-400 air missile systems could be used by Russia to covertly obtain classified details about the F-35 jets and that they are not compatible with NATO systems.

Turkey, however, insists that the S-400 will not be integrated into NATO systems and will not pose a threat to the alliance.

Altun criticized the US account of Ankara's decision to buy the air missile defense system, saying they ignored that Ankara was the first to approach the US for the Patriot system procurement.
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