Washington ‘Hopeful’ to Resolve S-400 Row With Turkey Before Delivering F-35s

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The United States is hopeful it can resolve some operational problems over Turkey’s purchase of Russia’s S-400 air defense system before sending F-35 stealth fighter jets to the Turkish Air Force, Secretary of the US Air Force Heather Wilson said.

"That does present some operational problems that we're discussing with Turkey. The State Department has the lead on that," Wilson told a meeting at the Atlantic Council on Tuesday. "We are hopeful that those [problems] will be resolved before they take delivery of that aircraft."

In April, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Wess Mitchell said Turkey’s purchase of the S-400 air defense system from Russia could negatively affect the delivery of the F-35 jets to Ankara.

"We would not want to have that aircraft (F-35) close to the S-400 so those discussions are going on with Turkey," Wilson said.

Israel and the United States are holding talks on the supply of 100 F-35 jets to Turkey, the Tel Aviv newspaper Haaretz reported on Monday.