State Department rejects Turkey’s ‘Crete Model’ as a solution to S-400 issue

The US once again reiterated its firm opposition to Turkey’s purchase and acquisition of the S-400 Russian defense missile system on Tuesday.

A State Department spokesperson rejected a recent proposal by Turkey’s Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, who stated that a possible compromise on this issue – which saw the US sanction Turkey under the CAATSA law – would see Turkey use the S-400s in the same way that the S-300 is used within NATO, a clear reference to the S-300s currently in Crete.

The spokesperson also stressed that Turkey is the only country in NATO that has engaged in a significant new purchase of Russian weapons since CAATSA was passed into law.

The comments followed questions from Greek state broadcaster ERT and HellasJournal. 

Lena Argiri, the DC Correspondent for ERT, joins our host Thanos Davelis with the latest analysis.