Pentagon says Patriot sale to Turkey still on table
The United States is reportedly still considering supplying Patriot missile systems to Turkey in what the administration may see as an opportunity to convince Ankara to walk back from the Russian system it acquired last year.
The Donald Trump administration is talking with Turkey about the delivering the Patriot system, the Pentagon’s top weapons buyer said today, despite killing a sale to Ankara last year. The NATO ally has requested the American-made air defense system amid a standoff with the Syrian regime in the contested Idlib province.
“We continue to talk to them about Patriot,” said Ellen Lord, the Pentagon’s top weapons buyer. “Turks are very important to us; we have many different collaborations with them at many different levels. We would love to see the removal of the S-400 and we would love to see the Patriots go in.”
