Turkey has rejected the US proposal to send its Russian-made S-400 air defence system to Ukraine, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.
Washington suggested Turkey should hand over control of the S-400 system to the US or another country, the semi-official Anadolu Agency quoted Cavusoglu as saying.
“The US asked us to send the S-400s to Ukraine, and we said no,” Cavusoglu said.
He added that these proposals were unacceptable for Turkey because they directly concerned Turkish sovereignty, Xinhua news agency reported.
Tensions between the US and Turkey escalated when Ankara and Moscow struck the S-400 deal, as Washington claimed that the S-400 system would be incompatible with the NATO system and may expose its confidential military information to Russia.
Washington later halted the delivery of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey and imposed sanctions on Ankara for its purchase of a Russian-made system.
