Russia Offers to Buy Back S-400 Air Defense Systems from Turkey

Russia has reportedly made a suggestion to Turkey for buying back the S-400 air defense missile systems that were sold to Ankara in 2019, a Turkish newspaper Nefes reported.

The paper reported that Russia is running low on S-400 systems in its stockpiles, which makes it impossible for it to honor deals with other nations. Russian authorities are thus mulling taking back the two systems, which Turkey had bought for $2.5 billion in 2017.

"Turkey effectively does not utilize the Russian S-400s, as they are not NATO-compliant. Besides, Ankara is developing its own all-encompassing air defense system 'Steel Dome', which must decrease Turkey's reliance on other nations in this respect. Nearly half of the allowed use time of missiles for them has already elapsed," the newspaper said.

The 2017 agreement caused strain with the United States and resulted in sanctions under the CAATSA act, barring Turkey from the F-35 fighter jet program. In accordance with Nefes, Ankara might view a possible buyback as a means to assuage such constraints.

Russia, on its side, is seeking to promptly replenish its inventory in view of increasing demand by allied states and losses during current conflicts. Moscow has no spare S-400s in warehouses besides already deployed systems.

Ankara has not yet officially stated its preparedness for a contract.

Meanwhile, Russia once again postponed delivery of new S-400 systems to India. In recent talks between Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov and Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, new deadlines for the handover were established in 2026–2027.