Esper Rules Out Relenting If Turkey Keeps Russian S-400 System
Esper Rules Out Relenting If Turkey Keeps Russian S-400 System
(Bloomberg) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper ruled out any compromise that would let Turkey get American F-35 fighter jets if it keeps the Russian-made S-400 missile defense system.
“I’ve been very clear in both my public comments and privately with my Turkish counterpart,” Esper told reporters in Washington on Wednesday. “It’s either the F-35 or the S-400. It’s not both. It’s not park one in the garage and roll the other one out. It’s one or the other.”
The Trump administration said last month that it wouldn’t let Turkey buy and continue to help build the warplane made by Lockheed Martin Corp. after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan went ahead with his plans to begin receiving the S-400. American officials contend the Russian system could compromise U.S. intelligence and let Moscow gain information about the F-35’s stealth technology.
Esper, who took office in July, pledged to provide regular news briefings as he held the Pentagon’s first such session for reporters in a year. The outgoing chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joseph Dunford, participated in the briefing with Esper.
Beyond NATO ally Turkey, the two officials discussed U.S. policy toward Afghanistan; tensions between South Korean and Japan; and Iran.
Afghanistan
Dunford said Afghan government forces are incapable of securing the country without U.S. military support, at a time when the Trump administration is trying to negotiate an agreement with the Taliban that would allow for at least a partial withdrawal of American and allied forces.
“Right now, it’s our judgment that the Afghans need support to deal with the level of violence that is associated with the insurgency today,” Dunford said. “If an agreement happens in the future, if the security environment changes, then obviously our posture may adjust.”
Esper emphasized that the U.S. is seeking an “inter-Afghan agreement” on a path forward, a move that would require the Taliban to agree to talks with President Ashraf Ghani’s government. It’s a step they’ve so far refused to take before an agreement is reached on U.S. troops.
“The key to resolve this conflict is a political agreement,” Esper said. “We’re on that path right now, and we’re hopeful that we can reach some type of conclusion that would result in a political agreement that can get us on -- on the right trajectory.”
South Korea-Japan Tensions
Esper and Dunford expressed concern about the impact on U.S. security efforts after South Korea notified Japan this month of plans to withdraw from a three-year-old framework for exchanging classified military information. This month, Esper traveled to South Korea and Tokyo where he met with his defense counterparts.
“I was, and remain, very disappointed that both parties are engaged in this,” Esper said. “I expressed that to my counterparts as I met with them in Tokyo and Seoul. And of course, encouraged them, urged them to work it out between them.”
Dunford said he hasn’t “seen an impact on military operations right now,” while he expressed disappointment in what he views as a “setback” in the relationship between South Korea and Japan.
Asked about President Donald Trump’s paring back of joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises, Dunford said American military leaders are confident that programs in place in South Korea will allow the allies to maintain needed readiness against North Korea.
Iran
Esper said that the U.S. isn’t seeking conflict with Iran and that it wants to “engage with them diplomatically.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Glen Carey in Washington at gcarey8@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Bill Faries at wfaries@bloomberg.net, Larry Liebert
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