Putin, Erdogan discuss S-400 delivery

Delivering Turkey air-defense missiles is a job of priority, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during a meeting of the Russian-Turkish High-Level Cooperation Council in Moscow on Monday.

"Our countries face the task of strengthening cooperation in the military-technical sphere," Putin said in a statement following his meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "First of all, we are talking about completing the implementation of the contract for the supply of Triumph S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems."

In addition to the missiles, Russia and Turkey have other promising defense cooperation projects to work on, Putin said, adding that Turkey will be supplied with high-tech military products. But he didn't disclose what these products are.

News about Russian-Turkish talks on the delivery of the S-400 systems first came in November 2016. In September 2017, Erdogan announced that Ankara had signed a contract with Moscow on purchasing the S-400 complexes and made an advance payment, Russia's Tass News Agency reported.

Turkey is the first NATO member state to purchase the S-400 missiles, raising objections from Washington, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Last week, US Vice-President Mike Pence warned Turkey that it was risking its NATO membership and its participation in the F-35 program by failing to cancel the missile contract with Russia.

Putin said on Monday that other "promising projects" related to the supplies of modern Russian military products to Turkey are also on the two countries' agenda. "We may well embark on joint development and production of high-tech military equipment," he said.

According to the Turkish Defense Ministry, the first batch of S-400 systems will be delivered to Turkey in July and activated in October.

Erdogan said during his visit to Moscow that it is Turkey's sovereign right to buy the S-400 systems.

"We have already drafted a roadmap to implement the S-400 deal. We have made corresponding steps. It's all over now. With all this done, is someone going to be against it, to call to abandon the deal, not to recognize our opinion? Once we have reached an agreement and signed the deal, naturally, we will continue to move forward. It is our sovereign right. No one can demand we waive it," he said.

S-400 went into service in 2007. It is designed to protect against aircraft, cruise and ballistic missiles, including medium-range missiles, and surface targets.

According to Tass, the system can hit aerodynamic targets at a range of up to 400 kilometers and tactical ballistic targets flying at a speed of 4.8 km/s at a distance of up to 60 kilometers.