Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Wednesday that the Russian S-400 air defence systems will be delivered to Turkey in July.
The Turkish leader emphasised that Ankara has already purchased the weapons from Moscow.
Russia and Turkey penned a $2.5-billion contract for the delivery of four battalion sets-worth of S-400s to Ankara in late 2017. Washington issued a counteroffer, offering Turkey a $3.5-billion contract for a contingent of Patriot PAC-3s. Turkish officials have indicated that negotiations on the Patriot proposal are continuing, but have stressed that Ankara would not cancel the S-400 deal for the US-made systems.
It was reported earlier that the first S-400s would reach Turkish soil in July; the air defence system acquisition will make Turkey the fourth country after Russia, Belarus and China to own the weapon.