Turkey Holds ‘Positive’ Talks with Russia on S-400 Purchase

"Our talks concerning the contract on the delivery of S-400 are continuing in a positive way,” Kurtulmus stressed. "We have not reached the stage of signing the agreement so far.”

Last week, International Cooperation and Regional Policy Department Chief of Russia’s Rostec state hi-tech corporation Viktor Kladov told TASS that Russia and Turkey agreed on the technical issues of the delivery of S-400 Triumf missile systems.

A delegation of Russia’s Rosoboronexport state arms exporter visited Turkey to discuss the deal in detail, TASS news agency reported.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on June 1 that Russia was ready to deliver S-400 air defense missile systems to Turkey. Putin discussed this issue at a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on May 3.

Earlier, Rostec CEO Sergey Chemezov said that Turkey had expressed a wish to obtain a loan from Russia to purchase weapons, including S-400 air defense missile systems.

The S-400 Triumf is a long-range air defense missile system put into operation in 2007. It is designed to destroy aircraft, cruise and ballistic missiles, including medium-range ones, and ground-based targets.