Trump promised: no sanctions to be imposed against Turkey - Erdogan

By  Trend

US President Donald Trump promised that sanctions won’t be imposed on Turkey, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during a press conference following the G20 summit in Japan’s Osaka, Trend reports with reference to Turkish media.

Erdogan noted that sanctions can’t be imposed on strategic partners. He added that Turkey in the first half of July will receive the Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems.

Earlier, Erdogan noted that Ankara doesn’t believe that the US will adopt sanctions against Turkey in the case of purchasing S-400 complexes.

On June 29, the presidents of the US and Turkey held a meeting as part of the G20 summit in Osaka, where they also discussed the supply of Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems.

During the meeting with Erdogan in Osaka, Trump said that Washington was considering various options for resolving the issue of the purchase of Russian S-400 complexes by Ankara.

“It’s a complicated deal, we’re working on it,” he said. “We’ll see what we can do.”

Trump said that the problem of military procurement between Washington and Ankara arose because of the decisions of the administration of his predecessor Barack Obama. “They wouldn’t let him buy the missile he wanted to buy, which was the Patriot,” said the US president.

Turkey was forbidden to buy a US anti-aircraft missile system until Erdogan said that he had bought something else, Trump added.

“You have to treat people fairly. And I don’t think he was treated fairly”, Trump said, stressing that this topic would be discussed at the upcoming talks.

Initial reports of negotiations between Russia and Turkey on the supply of S-400 appeared in November 2016. The signing of a contract was confirmed by the Russian side on September 12, 2017.

Turkey is the first NATO member state to receive the S-400 air defense systems from Russia.