Khaberni - Turkey is considering abandoning the Russian S-400 air defense system it purchased nearly a decade ago, in a move aimed at improving its relations with the United States and removing obstacles that have prevented its return to the F-35 fighter program, as part of Turkish efforts to reorganize its defense files stuck with Washington and NATO, according to a report published by Bloomberg.
According to the report, the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, discussed this file directly with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin during their meeting in Turkmenistan last week, on December 13, after a series of undisclosed talks between officials from both countries about the future of the controversial system.
Sources knowledgeable to Bloomberg revealed that Ankara is considering several scenarios for dealing with the S-400 system, including returning the systems to Russia, completely destroying them, or placing them under direct American control, in an attempt to dispel the security concerns posed by Washington and NATO.
This move, according to the report, aims to lift the U.S. sanctions imposed on the Turkish defense industries and to restore Turkey's participation in the F-35 fighter program, from which it was excluded in 2019 due to its insistence on completing the S-400 deal with Moscow.
On the other hand, the Kremlin denied having received an official request from the Turkish side regarding the return of the system during the meeting between Putin and Erdoğan, while Turkish officials refrained from commenting on the report, adhering to the official silence regarding what Bloomberg described as "sensitive consultations".
This development comes amid renewed American pressure during the administration of President Donald Trump, who had previously shown openness to finding a settlement to the dispute with Ankara, despite strong opposition within the defense and legislative institutions in Washington.
Turkey had purchased the Russian S-400 system between 2017 and 2019 for about 2.5 billion dollars, in a deal that caused sharp tension with the United States and NATO, which consider that operating the Russian system poses a direct threat to the security of the F-35 fighters and their sensitive technologies. Although the systems have been delivered to Turkey, they have not been activated yet, due to the pressure and sanctions from the United States.
