Ankara Awaits US' Response To Proposal To Set Up Working Group On S-400 - Foreign Minister

Ankara is still waiting for Washington's response to the proposal to create a working group to settle all disagreements over Turkey's purchase of Russian S-400 air defense systems, Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday

ANKARA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th April, 2021) Ankara is still waiting for Washington's response to the proposal to create a working group to settle all disagreements over Turkey's purchase of Russian S-400 air defense systems, Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday.

"The United States is concerned over S-400. We offered our and their specialists to meet. The US rejected this proposal. They know that S-400 does not integrate into the NATO air defense system, so they said no. We have proposed to create a working group to find a solution to this problem, and we are awaiting a response from the United States," Cavusoglu�told the Turkish NTV broadcaster.

The decision by Turkey, a NATO member, to deploy the Russian-made S-400 air defense system instead of the US Patriot system triggered a crisis in relations between Ankara and Washington in July 2019, when the first batch was delivered to the country. Despite the US authorities' repeated demands to abandon the deal and sanctions introduced last December, Ankara refused to make concessions and has continued negotiating the additional supply of Russia's S-400s.