The United States has given Turkey until the end of July to decide finally one way or another whether it will take delivery of the Russian missiles and said it will impose sanctions if it does. Turkish leaders have repeatedly said the agreement with Moscow is a done deal that cannot be changed. The first missiles could be delivered as early as next month.
“No matter what sanctions decision, no matter which statement comes from the U.S., we have already bought the S-400,” Anadolu quoted Çavuşoğlu as saying.
Turkey is now discussing the delivery of the S-400s, Çavuşoğlu said, and it was not possible to give up on the purchase.
The United States says Turkey’s deployment of the S-400s alongside NATO aircraft could be used by Russia to collect data and compromise the defences of its planes.
The United States this month stopped Turkish pilots training to fly the F-35 fighter jets because of the S-400 issue and could exclude Turkey altogether from the programme to build and operate the stealth jets.
Buying Russia military systems leaves Turkey vulnerable to U.S. retaliation under a 2017 law known as the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, or CAATSA.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said last week that he would discuss the issue with U.S. President Donald Trump at the G20 summit in Japan this week.
Meanwhile, Turkey's Permanent Representative to NATO Basat Öztürk said Turkey's purchase of S-400 was not a NATO issue but a problem between Ankara and Washington, Anadolu reported on Monday.
"S-400 is not a NATO issue, it's a bilateral problem. The United States' passing this to NATO and a (possible) break down in the alliance's coherence would be a fault," Öztürk said.
Turkey would not integrate S-400s to NATO systems to reassure the United States' concerns, said Öztürk, adding that the two NATO allies should avoid using a "threatening" and "blackmailing" rhetoric to each other.