Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told members of his ruling Justice and Development Party July 25 that his country had signed an agreement with Russia to buy an S-400 missile defense battery system, apparently overriding objections from the United States and fellow NATO partners. Steps have been taken concerning the S-400s, he reported, declaring, "God willing, we’ll see them in our country soon.”
Erdogan was probably referring to a preliminary agreement to pay $2.5 billion to acquire Russia’s most advanced missile defense system, a deal that cannot be considered final until some money changes hands. Indeed, it remains unclear what sort of financing package is being envisioned.