ANKARA, May 7 (Xinhua) -- Türkiye has rejected the U.S. proposal to send its Russian-made S-400 air defense system to Ukraine, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Sunday.
Washington suggested Türkiye should hand over control of the S-400 system to the U.S. or another country, the semi-official Anadolu Agency quoted Cavusoglu as saying.
A Russian Antonov military cargo plane, carrying parts of the S-400 missile defense system from Russia, is unloaded after landing at the Murted Air Base in Ankara, Turkey, on July 12, 2019. (Photo: Turkish Defense Ministry/Handout via Xinhua)
"The U.S. asked us to send the S-400s to Ukraine, and we said no," Cavusoglu said.
He added that these proposals were unacceptable for Türkiye because they directly concerned Turkish sovereignty.
Tensions between the United States and Türkiye escalated when Ankara and Moscow struck the S-400 deal, as Washington claimed that the S-400 system would be incompatible with the NATO system and may expose its confidential military information to Russia.
Washington later halted the delivery of F-35 fighter jets to Türkiye and imposed sanctions on Türkiye for its purchase of a Russian-made system.
