Russia and Turkey are holding expert level talks on a possible deal to transfer technology for production of Russian S-400 air defense systems, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Monday.
"I can tell you that contacts and negotiations at the expert level in the context of this deal continue," Peskov said when asked whether Russia was ready to transfer to Turkey technology to jointly manufacture S-400 systems on the country's territory.
The statement comes as Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said earlier in the day that Ankara expects that Russia and Turkey will launch joint production of S-400 missile defense systems, but if the Russian side refuses to cooperate, Turkey will have to find other partners.
"We have agreed in principle on joint production in the middle- and long-term. If Russians do not agree, we will sign an agreement with another country. But we have not received any negative messages [from Moscow] regarding this issue. Putin said that the two sides could take steps to launch a joint production," Cavusoglu said in an interview with the Aksam newspaper.
The S-400 Triumph is Russia's next-generation mobile surface-to-air missile system carrying three different types of missiles capable of destroying aerial targets at a short-to-extremely-long range. It integrates a multifunctional radar, autonomous detection and targeting systems, anti-aircraft missile systems, launchers, and a command and control center.
