Ankara and Moscow have reached a full agreement on the purchase of four Russian S-400 air defence systems, Turkish Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli said Wednesday.
Russia will supply Turkey with four batteries of S-400 surface-to-air missiles for $2.5 billion under a deal that is almost complete, Sergei Chemezov, head of Russian state conglomerate Rostec, told the Kommersant daily earlier in the day.
Turkey will pay 45 percent of the cost up front with Russia providing loans to cover the remaining 55 percent, Chemezov said. Moscow expected to begin the first deliveries in March 2020, he said.
"In fact, the issue concerned lending. Specifically, whether we will use a loan or buy air defence systems with our own money. The view prevailed that we will partially use lending. The agreement, under which Turkey will buy from Russia four units, is fully achieved," Canikli told the TRT broadcaster.
