Turkey is not planning to resell Russian S-400s, Ömer Çelik, a spokesman for the governing Justice and Development (AK) Party assured, following statements that the US had crossed the line with its statements regarding Ankara's acquisition of the Russian missile defence systems.
"These systems are made in Russia. We are buying them and are not intending to resell them to another country. We have paid for two S-400s and are awaiting their supplies in July", he said.
The desire to buy Russian S-400 systems led to a worsening in US-Turkey relations. Washington fears the system will expose weaknesses of the F-35 and that it would be incompatible with NATO defences. The US urged Ankara to drop the contract, offering Patriot systems instead and threatening to halt the delivery of F-35s.
Turkey slammed Washington's threats and stated that the S-400 poses no threat to the F-35 as they will be operated by the Turkish military. Ankara reportedly offered to let Washington study the Russian systems when they arrive, but this was officially denied by Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar.
READ MORE: US Crossing Line With Remarks on Turkey's S-400 Purchase — Erdogan's AK Party
Earlier, the US Defence Department threatened that if Turkey does acquire Russian S-400 systems, Washington would be forced to cut its military relationship with Ankara and not deliver F-35s and Patriots. At the same time, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reaffirmed his country's commitment to the S-400 deal with Russia and added that the acquisition of advanced S-500 systems from Russia is also on the table.
