Is Moscow using the S-400 against Turkey?
Ankara denies the suggestion from Moscow that a second batch of S-400s is headed for Turkey and says it is an effort to stall Turkey’s talks with the United States and Europe.
The military logic of Turkey’s highly controversial purchase of S-400 anti-ballistic missile defense systems from Russia in 2017 continues to defy many analysts.
The topic remains a major sticking point in Turkey’s strained relationship with the United States and its European allies.
It has also deprived Ankara of a strategic asset, such as the state-of-the-art F-35 fighter jets it hoped to bolster its air force with. Turkey was expelled from that program by the United States because of its multibillion-dollar S-400 purchase.
It is still not clear where and when Ankara hopes to deploy the Russian systems and what any possible scenario for their ultimate use will be.
