MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Ankara had already put down a deposit on Russian S-400 air defense missile systems.
"Our friends have already signed [an agreement on] S-400s. A deposit has also been paid, as far as I know. The process will continue through a transfer of a credit from Russia to us. Both Mr. [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and myself, we are determined on this issue," Erdogan said, as quoted by the Hurriyet Daily News.
The S-400 is Russia's next-generation air defense system. It carries three different types of missiles capable of destroying aerial targets at short-to-extremely-long ranges.
In August Russian state arms exporter Rosoboronexport's Director General Alexander Mikheev told Sputnik that the contract for the delivery of an S-400 system to Turkey was close to being signed.
Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Isik said on July 18 that the negotiations on the air defense system's delivery had reached their the final stage.
