Russia Hails Turkey's Stance on S-400 Systems Despite US Pressure - Kremlin

PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY (Sputnik) - Moscow welcomes Turkey's uncompromising position with regard to the purchase of S-400 air defence systems from Russia in spite of the pressure applied by the United States, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov has stated.

"In fact, there is not a lot of countries that act independently. Russia and Turkey are among such countries. The pressure that is being applied is unprecedented. We welcome this… a rather rigid and uncompromising position taken by [Turkish] President [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan", Peskov said in the "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin" program aired by the Rossiya-1 TV channel.

The statement comes after Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko slammed earlier in April Washington for applying pressure on Ankara over the S-400 purchase, stressing that the United States was using any possible way to influence its partners. The minister has commented the recent move of the US when they halted the delivery of equipment related to the F-35 fighter aircraft to Turkey.

Last month, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the agreement to purchase Russian S-400 air defence systems was a "done deal". 

READ MORE: No Talk About Russia, Turkey Jointly Producing S-400 Systems — Peskov

The Russian-Turkish cooperation on S-400 deliveries has been criticized by NATO and the United States, which have cited security concerns and the inability of integration between S-400 and NATO's air defence systems. 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 first shipment of S-400 air defence systems is expected to be delivered to Ankara in July.

In December 2017, Russia and Turkey signed a loan agreement for the delivery of S-400 air defence systems to Ankara.