US warns of sanctions over Turkey’s plans to install Russian S-400s

Responding to Ankara’s announcement that it will proceed with the installation of Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile systems in October 2019, Washington has warned of sanctions and repercussions in defense trade.

In response to questions posed by the news website Hellas Journal, a State Department official was quoted on Friday as saying that “an S-400 acquisition could potentially trigger actions under the Countering Americas Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) and have serious ramifications for US ability to do business with Turkey across the defense trade spectrum.”

The US government imposed sanctions on the S-400 manufacturer Almaz-Antey Air and Space Defense Corporation JSC in October last year.

“The United States is committed to Turkey’s security and ensuring Turkey’s ability to defend itself. We have long made it clear that we want to work collaboratively on air and missile defense with Turkey,” the same official said. However Washingtion “has also made it clear to Turkey that we have very serious concerns with plans to proceed with the acquisition of the Russian S-400 missile defense system,” the official added.

The statement cited a series of concerns, including that military equipment procured by NATO countries should be ‘interoperable with NATO systems.” “A Russian system does not meet that standard,” the official said, adding that the procurement would be “inconsistent with the commitment made by Allies at the Warsaw Summit to enhance resilience by working to address existing dependencies on Russian-sourced legacy military equipment through national efforts.”

On Thursday, Turkey’s state-owned Anadolu news agency Thursday quoted Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar as saying that the installation of Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile systems in Turkey will begin in October 2019.