MOSCOW, September 30. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed the development of the bilateral military and technical cooperation, including the broadening of contacts on Russia’s S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems, Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.
Putin and Erdogan held a bilateral meeting on Wednesday in the Russian Black Sea resort city of Sochi.
"They spoke about extending cooperation in the military and technical sphere as well as the maintenance and future cooperation regarding S-400 [air defense systems], and discussed a possibility of manufacturing certain components of the [S-400 system] on the territory of Turkey," Peskov said.
Moscow and Ankara inked a deal in 2017 on the delivery of the Russian-made S-400 air defense system to Turkey, thereby making it the first NATO member to purchase this air defense missile system from Russia.
Ankara’s decision to purchase the Russian-made system infuriated the United States and NATO. So far, Washington has not abandoned its efforts to make Turkey give up the Russian air defense system.
Turkey has not caved to US pressure and said that it would keep the S-400 system. Washington has responded by excluding Ankara from the US program of developing the fifth-generation F-35 fighter-bomber.
Turkish President Erdogan vowed in October last year that Ankara was not going to give up the S-400 system, despite Washington’s pressure.
Russia’s S-400 ‘Triumf’ (NATO reporting name: SA-21 Growler) is the latest long-and medium-range surface-to-air missile system that went into service in 2007. It is designed to destroy aircraft, cruise, and ballistic missiles and can also be used against ground installations. The S-400 can engage targets at a distance of up to 400 km and at an altitude of up to 30 km under intensive enemy fire and jamming.