“We are in a situation where Russia’s brutal and unjustified war against Ukraine makes it vital, now more than ever, that all countries avoid doing business with the Russian defense sector,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said at a media briefing.
“We will have to wait and see what happens, but we are not aware of any new developments on this matter,” he added.
Price did not say whether the delivery of the second batch of Russia’s S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems would prompt President Joe Biden’s administration to reconsider its plans to sell F-16 warplanes to Turkey.
TASS quoted yesterday Dmitry Shugaev, the head of the Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSVTS), who said that a contract had been signed for the supply of more S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems to Turkey, with the document also providing for the localization of the production of the individual system components.
Later, sources from the Turkish Ministry of Defense specified on the occasion of this information that it is not a question of a new development, but of the implementation of the contract originally concluded, reported the Turkish television TRT Haber, quoted by BTA.