The Turkish Foreign Ministry denied reports by Turkish media about the creation of a working group on the S-400 between Ankara and Washington, TASS reports, citing a source in the foreign ministry.
“Our Mr. Minister at the closed part of today's conference said that“ a joint working group with the US on the S-400 has not been formed, there are technical negotiations. ” He said that “a joint group at the technical level on the subject of sanctions will be created between the departments of Turkey and the United States,” the statement said.
Earlier, the NTV channel, referring to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, reported that Turkey and the United States decided to create a joint working group in connection with Ankara's purchase of Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems.
On December 14, the United States imposed sanctions against four Turkish officials over the acquisition of the S-400 air defense system from Russia. Ismail Demir, head of the Turkish Defense Industry Department, and three other people were included in the “black list”. Also, sanctions were introduced against the Defense Industry Directorate itself. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on Ankara “to immediately resolve the S-400 problem in coordination with the United States.”
On October 16, Turkish servicemen for the first time tested the S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems purchased from Russia during exercises in the north of the country. The test launch video was published by Haberler. The State Department condemned the actions of the Turkish authorities.
Russia and Turkey signed a contract for the supply of Russian S-400 Triumph anti-aircraft missile systems in December 2017. The first aircraft with Triumph components began arriving in Turkey on 12 July 2019. Later, on November 1, the general director of Rosoboronexport, Alexander Mikheev, announced that Russia had fulfilled its obligations to supply S-400 complexes to Turkey. Against the background of the supply of the S-400 air defense system to Turkey, the United States announced the official refusal of Washington to supply Ankara with the latest F-35 fighters.
