Turkey Wants to Get Rid of the S-400 to Return to the F-35 Program — Bloomberg

Turkey has stepped up negotiations with Russia regarding the transfer of S-400 air defense missile systems to a third country. Ankara hopes this will help it resume participation in the U.S. fifth-generation F-35 fighter jet program.

According to sources, Turkish authorities have been negotiating with Moscow in recent weeks. Earlier, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had proposed returning the systems to Russia, but this initiative did not gain support.

Currently, the S-400 systems are in Turkey’s arsenal but are not actually in use. If the Kremlin agrees, the systems could be transferred to a third country, the name of which has not yet been disclosed.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov called this issue “extremely sensitive.” At the same time, U.S. officials note that even removing the systems would not necessarily eliminate all security risks to the F-35 program.

Turkey was excluded from the F-35 program and subjected to sanctions in 2020 following its purchase of Russian S-400 systems. Ankara justified the purchase by noting that the U.S. had long refused to sell it Patriot systems.

Source: Bloomberg.

Turkey continues negotiations with the U.S. regarding its return to the F-35 fighter jet program. Officials in Ankara say that some of the issues have already been resolved, but the main obstacle remains U.S. legislation.