"The S-400 deal is done, we are talking about the shipments. We are buying the S-400 [systems]. After the recent statements, the discrepancy over the S-400 is subsiding. I can say that the process is going more calmly now. US President Donald Trump has openly said what he thinks about the F-35 [deal], but one should not be too optimistic and assume that everything Trump says will come true. We are careful", Cavusoglu said, as broadcast by the TRT channel.
In June, then-acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan formally informed Turkey that it would not be allowed to receive the US F-35 fighter jets it had already purchased if it went ahead with acquiring the S-400 systems. Nevertheless, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said last week that he had been reassured by Trump that his country would not target Ankara with sanctions over its deal with Russia. Erdogan also said that Ankara expected to receive the F-35 jets despite earlier statements.
In December 2017, Moscow inked a deal to deliver the state-of-the-art S-400 systems to Turkey. The agreement angered Washington, which has repeatedly relayed its concerns that the systems might be incompatible with NATO standards. Turkey, however, has rebuffed all such concerns saying that purchasing military equipment is its sovereign right and ruled out the possibility of abandoning the S-400 acquisition.
