Turkey-Russia S-400 Missile Deal Approved, Price Negotiations Underway

Ankara and Moscow have reached an agreement on the purchase of S-400 missile defense systems and price negotiations are underway before the final signing of the deal, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.

“We have agreed in principle with Russia for the purchase of S-400 missile systems. Joint production and price negotiations are underway,” Haberturk newspaper reported quoting Mevlut as saying Friday.

It is possible that the issue of S-400 deliveries [to Turkey] may feature during the meeting of both leaders [Putin and Erdogan], Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by local media Thursday.

The two leaders are meeting on May 3 in Sochi. "I presume that following negotiations between Erdogan and Putin, a joint decision will be made on forthcoming steps towards the acquisition of the Russian antiaircraft missile systems," Turkish Defense Minister Firki Isik was quoted by Anadolu agency as saying.

Turkey, last month, had sought a loan to buy S-400 missile system from Russia. "Turkey’s officials express a wish to get a loan, but the issue is pending so far. The Ministry of Finance is conducting negotiations – as soon as an agreement is signed and the loan amount is determined, we’ll then sign a supply contract for S-400 and so on," Sergey Chemezov, Rostec Corporation CEO was quoted as saying during an interview with Russia 24 news channel aired on March 14 this year.