"S-400 is a done deal. We have already finalized this deal and we will buy S-400s from Russia without any question. This is what we are telling Russians as well… In last 10 years we tried to buy [air defence systems] from our American friends, I mean the Patriots but it didn’t work… We have urgent need that’s why we bought S-400. Russia gave us the best deal and [now it] is the done deal and in the future let’s see, who is going to make the best proposal," Cavusoglu told reporters.
Last December, Ankara signed a loan agreement with Moscow envisaging the deliveries of the Russian-made S-400 air defence systems to Turkey. Russia's Rostec state corporation CEO Sergey Chemezov said then that the contract envisaged the delivery of four S-400 battalion-size sets worth $2.5 billion, with 55 percent of the contract sum being covered by the Russian loans.
Turkish Foreign Minister also said that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin had productive talks on the Kerch Strait incident.
"We were actually concerned [over the Kerch Strait incident] and President Erdogan called both on Putin and [Ukrainian President Petro] Poroshenko for de-escalation. President Putin today actually briefed Erdogan what happened exactly. Putin is also in favor of de-escalation, which is good. So I hope such incident will not repeat again. We don’t need another tension in our neighbourhood. It was very constructive talks on this issue between President Erdogan and Putin," Cavusoglu told reporters.
The incident in the Kerch Strait took place last Sunday. Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) has said that the Ukrainian Berdyansk and Nikopol gunboats and the Yany Kapu tugboat illegally crossed the Russian maritime border as they sailed toward the Kerch Strait, the entrance to the Sea of Azov. The Ukrainian vessels were seized by Russia after failing to respond to a demand to stop.
