Russian-Turkish Defense Industry Cooperation In Upswing - Deputy Defense Minister

Faizan Hashmi Published April 22, 2019 | 11:47 PM

Russian-Turkish defense industry cooperation is on rise, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin said ahead of the upcoming Moscow Conference on International Security (MCIS)

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd April, 2019) Russian-Turkish defense industry cooperation is on rise, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin said ahead of the upcoming Moscow Conference on International Security (MCIS).

"I would say that our relations [with Turkey] are on the rise in all possible directions: in politics, the economy and, of course, in defense industry cooperation," Fomin said in an interview with RT.

He also stressed that without Turkey it would be impossible to solve many problems, including the issue of political settlement in Syria.

According to Fomin, Turkey showed persistence by resisting the US pressure and refusing to cancel purchase of Russian S-400 air defense systems.

"A very active attitude of our Turkish partners is worthy of admiration as they have shown tremendous strength of spirit and inflexibility, despite the strongest pressure exerted by the United States, in particular with regard to the S-400 project.

This means a lot," Fomin said.

In December 2017, Russia and Turkey signed a loan agreement for the delivery of S-400 air defense systems to Ankara. The first shipment of S-400 air defense systems is expected to be delivered to Ankara by July. However, since Turkey is a participant of the US F-35 international program, Washington has repeatedly threatened Ankara with sanctions for possible acquisition of Russian S-400 air defense systems and has not ruled out delaying or canceling the process of selling the F-35 aircraft to Turkey. Ankara, in its turn, has said that purchase of military equipment is its sovereign affair and ruled out the possibility of abandoning its plans.

The annual Conference on International Security, organized by the Russian Ministry of Defense since 2012, will be held in Moscow on April 23-25 and will mainly focus on the crucial issues of the international security.