US defense chief to Ankara: Either F-35 or S-400, not both

US defense chief to Ankara: Either F-35 or S-400, not both
US Defense Secretary Mark Esper has told reporters at the Pentagon during an exceedingly rare news briefing that short of completely doing away with the Russian S-400 system, Ankara would not be allowed to return to the F-35.

"I’ve been very clear in both my public comments and privately with my Turkish counterpart: it’s either the F-35 or the S-400. It’s not both. It’s not park one in the garage, and roll the other one out. It’s one or the other," Esper said. 

"So we are where we are and it’s regrettable. As I’ve said, Turkey’s been a long-standing, a great partner and ally, and I would hope that they would move back in our direction and really live up to what NATO agreed to many years ago, and that was to begin divesting of Soviet-era Russian equipment," he added. "They seem to be moving in a different direction.”

The Trump administration has already suspended Turkey from the F-35 system over Ankara's receipt of the S-400, but some hopes centered on a compromise wherein Turkey could keep the Russian anti-air system, but keep it turned off in order to return to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program.

التعليقات (0)

    0

    الأكثر قراءة

    💡 أهم المواضيع

    ✨ أهم التصنيفات