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Details of S-400 missile system deal with Saudi Arabia to be agreed by year-end — official

The official added that "those negotiations are literally under way at the moment"

S-400 (NATO reporting name: SA-21 Growler) air defense missile system Mikhail Dzhaparidze/TASS

S-400 (NATO reporting name: SA-21 Growler) air defense missile system

© Mikhail Dzhaparidze/TASS

KUBINKA /Moscow region/, December 21. /TASS/. Moscow and Riyadh are expected to agree on all details of the deal to deliver advanced S-400 antiaircraft missile systems to Saudi Arabia by the end of the year, the Russian presidential aide for defense cooperation, Vladimir Kozhin, said on Thursday.

Speaking at the Golden Idea award ceremony to mark achievements in the defense sector, Kozhin said Russia and Saudi Arabia had signed "a package of agreements," including on the delivery of S-400 and on launching the production of Kalashnikov assault rifles in the Kingdom.

"As far as more complicated systems are concerned, negotiations still continue," he said. "Both technical issues and financial aspects are being discussed. I hope that we will get answers to all remaining questions by the end of the year."

The official added that "those negotiations are literally under way at the moment."

A contract for the delivery of Russian-made S-400 (NATO reporting name: SA-21 Growler) air defense missile systems to Saudi Arabia was signed in May 2017.

S-400 Triumf is the latest long-range antiaircraft missile system that went into service in 2007. It is designed to destroy aircraft, cruise and ballistic missiles, including medium-range missiles, and can also be used against ground targets. The S-400 can engage targets at a distance of 400 km and at an altitude of up to 30 km.

Russian Aerospace Force Deputy Commander-in-Chief Viktor Gumyonny said in April that missiles capable of destroying targets in outer space had started arriving for the S-400 systems.

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