Pentagon Denies Erdogan Claim U.S. Is Softer on Russian Missiles

(Bloomberg) -- The Pentagon disputed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s observation that Washington has “softened” its stance against Ankara’s purchase of a Russian missile-defense system.

Turkish media on Tuesday had cited Erdogan as telling reporters that the U.S. has “softened quite a bit,” and just wants Ankara to “promise us you won’t activate the S-400s.’” The Pentagon said that’s not the case.

Turkey “is not going to receive a Patriot battery unless it returns the S-400,” Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman told reporters Tuesday, referring to Ankara’s request to buy a U.S. missile defense system. U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper’s view has been clear on the topic all along, Hoffman added.

Erdogan has said Turkey plans to active the S-400s in April. A chief U.S. concern is that the S-400 could be used to collect intelligence on the stealth capabilities of the American F-35 fighter jet.

Unless the two countries can reach an agreement, Congress is likely to impose sanctions on Turkey “in the not-so-distant future,” according to David Satterfield, the acting assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs. He said support would be bipartisan.

U.S. President Donald Trump, an admirer of Erdogan’s, has so far refrained from employing legislation that would allow him to slap sanctions on any country that makes a sizable arms purchase from Russia. But a Senate committee recently approved a bill that includes a provision to enforce that legislation, which could set in motion the freezing of Turkish assets, restriction of visas and limits on access to credit.

That would spell further trouble for Turkey’s economy, which is still recovering from a recession that followed a crash in the lira after a separate diplomatic spat with Washington in 2018.

To contact the reporter on this story: Selcan Hacaoglu in Ankara at shacaoglu@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Onur Ant at oant@bloomberg.net, Amy Teibel, Paul Abelsky

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