Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he would consider buying a second Russian missile system, despite strong US objections. Erdoan said in an interview to US broadcaster CBS News that Turkey would have to decide on its own defense system.
He said in an interview this week that Turkey was not given the option to buy US-made Patriot missiles and that the US did not provide the F-35 aircraft despite a $1.4 billion payment. NATO member Turkey was pulled out of the F-35 program after purchasing a Russian-made S-400 missile defense system. The US strongly opposes the use of Russian systems within NATO. He says it is a threat to the F-35,Whereas Turkey maintains that the S-400 can be used independently without being integrated into the NATO system and therefore poses no risk.
The US also imposed sanctions on Turkey over this purchase under a 2017 law aimed at reducing Russian influence. When asked whether he would buy more S-400s, he said, "Of course, yes."
