Russia offers to sell SU-35 fighter jets to Turkey after US removes Ankara from F-35 programme

Turkey lambasted an “unfair” US move to exclude the country from Nato’s F-35 stealth fighter jet programme over Ankara’s controversial purchase of a Russian missile defence system. “This one-sided step neither complies with the spirit of alliance nor is it based on legitimate reasons,” the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. “It is unfair to remove Turkey, one of the partners in the F-35 programme,” the ministry said, as it dismissed claims the Russian S-400 system would be a danger to the F-35s. Sergei Chemezov, head of Russia’s state-controlled Rostech corporation, said in a statement on Thursday that Moscow would be willing to sell its SU-35 fighter jets to Turkey if Ankara “expresses interest”. Turkey has ordered more than 100 of the F-35 fighter jets, spending US$1.4 billion while its defence industry has invested significant sums into the warplanes’ production. “We invite the US to take back this error which will pave the way to irreparable damage to our strategic relations,” the Turkish ministry added. Earlier on Wednesday, the United States confirmed Turkey’s exclusion from the programme after repeated warnings. The US-made F-35 Joint Strike Fighter “cannot coexist with a Russian intelligence collection platform that will be used to learn about its advanced capabilities”, White House spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said. Pentagon officials sought to play down any rift, noting that Turkey has been a key ally for more than six decades. But Ellen Lord, the Pentagon’s chief weapons buyer, said that Turkey stands to lose US$9 billion in future earnings as an F-35 parts supplier. Turkish F-35 technicians and pilots training in the US would also be sent back by the end of this month. Japan’s deal to buy F-35 Lightning jets from US ‘may fuel arms race with China in region’ The first delivery of the S-400 system from Russia began last week and further equipment has since been arriving every day by plane to an airbase in Ankara. Relations between the Nato allies have deteriorated since Ankara’s purchase from Russia but there have been strains over multiple issues including US support to a Syrian Kurdish militia viewed as terrorists by Turkey. The Turkish ministry called on the US to show the importance of the Ankara-Washington relationship “not just through words but through action and especially in the fight against terrorist organisations.” Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, speaking at the Aspen Institute’s annual security forum in Aspen, Colorado, said he was concerned at Turkey’s expulsion from the F-35 programme. But while the S-400 could not become part of Nato’s shared air and missile defences, he said, Turkey has aircraft and radars that would remain part of the system. “The S-400, the Russian air defence system, it’s not possible to integrate into the integrated Nato air defence and missile system, which is about sharing, you know, radar picture, about joint air policing, which is about shared capabilities. And Turkey has not asked for that,” Stoltenberg said. The State Department said that no decision has been made yet on sanctions over the S-400 deal. David Trachtenberg, deputy undersecretary at the US Defence Department, repeated that Turkey remains a strong ally of the United States and would still join Nato exercises. “We will continue to participate with Turkey in multilateral exercises to improve readiness and interoperability, including upcoming exercises in Georgia, Germany and Ukraine,” he told reporters. Asked if Turkey could be ejected from Nato after nearly seven decades as a member, he replied: “That’s a decision for the Nato alliance … That’s not for us here to decide.” Meanwhile, the United States is considering expanding sales of the jets to five other nations, including Romania, Greece and Poland, as European allies bulk up their defences in the face of a strengthening Russia. Agence France-Presse, Reuters, Associated Press

Russia offers to sell SU-35 fighter jets to Turkey after US removes Ankara from F-35 programme

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Offer came a day after US government said Turkey was being kicked out of the stealth fighter programme because it was buying Russian missile systems

Offer came a day after US government said Turkey was being kicked out of the stealth fighter programme because it was buying Russian missile systems