US warns Türkiye and other allies against buying Russia's S-400

Russia's S-400 air defense system. Photo: Sputnik

According to RT on August 24, US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert noted that the early deliveries of S-400s to Türkiye are another “concern” for the US, while emphasizing that Washington opposes plans by other countries to diversify their defense system supply sources.

Earlier this week, Rosoboronexport confirmed that the first shipment of launchers would be delivered to Ankara in 2019.

“It is against our policy to have a NATO ally like Türkiye using the S-400 system,” Nauert said. “Part of the problem is that the system cannot exchange and leverage information with other NATO systems. And so we object to the ability of a number of our partners and allies around the world to purchase the S-400 system.”

The spokeswoman noted that the US has “made it very clear that it could trigger sanctions against other countries and entities around the world” if they proceed with the purchase of Russian systems. The Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) allows the US government to sanction entities that engage in significant transactions with Russian defense companies.

Türkiye and the United States are currently witnessing a deterioration in bilateral relations, ostensibly over the fate of Pastor Andrew Brunson, whom Ankara has refused to extradite to the United States. Brunson, a US citizen who has lived in Turkey for more than two decades, was arrested on terrorism and espionage charges as part of Ankara’s investigation into a failed military coup attempt in 2016. He faces up to 35 years in prison if convicted.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly accused the White House in recent weeks of waging economic war against his country, as the lira fell sharply against the dollar after the US imposed sanctions on steel and aluminum imports from Türkiye.

Ankara has also repeatedly defended its sovereign right to buy weapons from any supplier it wants. In response, the US has threatened to halt deliveries of F-35 stealth fighters to Ankara, claiming that Türkiye’s human rights record is not clean enough and that data collected by the S-400 could expose the aircraft’s vulnerabilities.

According to former US diplomat Jim Jatras, the real problem is not the ability to share and use information between Russian and NATO systems, but rather the US's efforts to maintain its influence.

“The issue here is not really about information exchange and sharing. There are many countries that buy military equipment from many different sources,” Jatras told RT.

“We don’t really have allies, we have satellites that are good satellites that do what they are told to do. And if they don’t want to behave like good satellites, we pull out a big stick and threaten them. I think ‘punitive’ is the right word to describe US policies,” Jatras stressed.

Türkiye is not the only country facing pressure from Washington over its plans to buy the Russian S-400. US lawmakers have threatened to sanction India if New Delhi goes ahead with a $5.7 billion deal to buy five of the systems. Like Türkiye, India remains committed to the deal, which is expected to be announced later this year.

Phu Binh