Erdogan Sees No Reason Not to Work With Russia and Install S-400 Missile Systems

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday that he saw no reasons to stop cooperation with Russia on the purchase of S-400 missile defense systems, adding that he expected joint production to take place in the second stage of S-400 purchases.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Earlier in an interview with The Washington Post, the US permanent representative to NATO called Turkey's decision to purchase the Russian S-400 "Triumph" missile system a "big problem."

However Turkish president said he sees no obstacles for this deal.

"There are no problems with S-400s. We will not have joint production at the first stage. But in the second stage… we will launch joint production. We do not think that we have to stop the cooperation on S-400s agreed with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin. We have also agreed on S-500s," Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the newspaper Haberturk.

On September 12, Moscow and Ankara reached an agreement on the delivery of S-400 systems to Turkey. Erdogan said that Ankara had made its first payment for the air defense missiles.

The S-400 "Triumph" is based on existing Russian S-300 systems, but it has significantly better tactical and technical capabilities. The S-400 system, which is currently unique in the world, is designed to shoot down air targets, including aircraft and missiles.

At the end of August, the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation announced that it had received almost ten requests for the purchase of S-400 missiles.