Turkey Would Not Let US Inspect Russian S-400s - Source

08:55 GMT, 27 December 2018

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu assured the Russian ambassador to Ankara, Alexei Yerkhov, that Turkey would not provide the United States with the opportunity to study S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems, a source in the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.

Sputnik

"Our minister assured the Russian ambassador that there are no talks that Turkey will provide the United States with the opportunity to study the S-400 air defence systems", the source said.

Cavusoglu tweeted Wednesday he had met with Yerkhov, but did not provide details on the agenda.

Recently, Bloomberg citing two sources reported that Turkey had allegedly offered the United States to explore the S-400 air defence system, which Russia is set to deliver in the near future under the contract.

Turkey's Purchases of Russian S-400, US Patriot Systems Not Connected - Kremlin

19 December 2018, 09:46 GMT

In turn, following the report, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar has categorically rejected reports claiming that Ankara had suggested US technicians could study the Russian-made S-400 missile system.

Earlier, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu confirmed that Ankara had already finalized the S-400 deal and will buy the missile systems from Russia "without any question".

Last December, Ankara signed a loan agreement with Moscow envisaging deliveries of the Russian-made S-400 air defence systems to Turkey. Sergey Chemezov, chief executive of Russia's state-owned defence company, Rostec, said some four S-400 battalion-size sets worth $2.5 billion could be supplied, with 55 percent of the contract sum being covered by Russian loans.