| File photo: Russian S-400 air defence mobile missile launching systems drive during a rehearsal for the Victory Day parade in Red Square in central Moscow |
Turkey and Russia have signed an accord regarding the supply of Russian S-400 surface-to-air missiles to Turkey, CNN Turk and other media reported on Friday, finalising a deal the two countries have been working on for more than a year.
The S-400 deal, reportedly worth about $2.5bn, has caused concern in the West because Turkey is a member of Nato and the system cannot be integrated into Nato’s military architecture.
No details of the accord were available and officials were not immediately available to comment. But Sergei Chemezov, head of the Russian state conglomerate Rostec, told the Kommersant daily on Wednesday Russia would supply Turkey with four batteries of S-400s for $2.5bn under the deal.
He had said Moscow was expected to begin the first deliveries in March 2020 and that Turkey was the first NATO member state to acquire the advanced S-400 missile system.
Earlier on Friday, Turkish newspapers cited President Tayyip Erdogan as saying Turkey would borrow in roubles in a loan deal under the accord.
Turkey would pay 45 per cent of the cost up front, with Russia providing loans to cover the remaining 55 per cent, Chemezov had told Kommersant.