YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK, April 14. /TASS/. Russia hails a tough stance of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in response to the United States’ pressure on Ankara over its deal on purchasing Russia’s S-400 missile systems, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin" program on Rossiya-1 TV channel.
"The pressure has been indeed unprecedented. We welcome a rather tough and peremptory position of President Erdogan. We believe that only this position allows us indeed to build a free and sovereign dialogue," Peskov said, commenting on Ankara’s statements on the S-400 deal.
According to Peskov, there are very few countries in the world, which can act in this sovereign way, and Russia and Turkey are among them.
On April 9, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned the Erdogan administration that Ankara won’t be eligible for the F-35 manufacture and purchase program following the deployment of Russian S-400 missile systems.
In November 2016, reports emerged that Russia and Turkey were negotiating an S-400 missile system supply deal. In September 2017, Moscow confirmed the deal had been signed, while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that Turkey had already transferred the advance payment. The US is actively trying to cripple Turkey’s attempts to purchase Russia’s S-400 systems.