Intel: Turkey talks expanding defense ties with Russia, snubbing NATO
Erdogan's boasting about future defense projects with Moscow comes after he failed to get a meeting with President Joe Biden in New York.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters on Thursday that he discussed expanding cooperation with Russia on a wide array of defense industry endeavors with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in Sochi.
Despite Turkey’s membership in NATO and warnings from the Biden administration about further defense purchases from Moscow, Erdogan said he and Putin discussed moving forward on plans with Russia’s S-400 air defense system.
Turkey purchased the system from Moscow in 2017 and received the first unit two years later, plunging ties with Washington to an unprecedented low. US officials expelled Ankara from the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program in response, saying the Russian air defense system threatened the security of the US-made aircraft.
Erdogan also touted the possibility of joint production of aircraft engines and unspecified cooperation on warplanes.
