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Ankara hopes that Washington will change its position on S-400 deliveries

The US position may inflict irreparable damage to relations between the two countries, the Turkish president spokesman said

ANKARA, June 13. /TASS/. Turkey expects the United States to change its position on the deliveries of the Russian S-400 missile defense systems, as it may incur irreparable damage to bilateral relations, said Ibrahim Kalin, spokesman for Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, on Thursday.

"Turkey hopes that the Pentagon will abandon its position on the S-400s which may inflict irreparable damage to relations between the two countries," Anadolu Agency quoted him as saying.

Kalin said that earlier on Thursday he also discussed with US National Security Advisor John Bolton the letter by Acting US Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan about Washington’s decision to suspend Turkey’s participation in the program to train Turkish pilots in the US to operate F-35 multirole fighters due to Ankara’s purchase of the S-400s. "This letter is against the spirit of alliance. Besides, the contents of the letter was released by media representatives; we consider it inacceptable and are preparing a response to it. The Turkish and US presidents will discuss the issue of training our pilots on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Japan," he added.

He also said that a meeting between Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin is to be held in Japan. The Turkish president will meet with the global leaders at the fifth summit of the member states of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA). "The participation of Russia, China and India [in the summit] is especially important," the presidential spokesman noted.