Turkey failed to find a buyer for Russian S-400s and may send them for scrap

Ankara had previously approached Russia for permission to resell the S-400s to the UAE. However, the negotiations have reportedly stalled. One possible reason cited is that the Emirates themselves are interested in American F-35 fighters and do not want to acquire Russian systems that could create similar problems for them with Washington.

The presence of S-400s is precisely the main obstacle for Turkey's return to the F-35 program. American senators demand that Ankara completely divest itself of the Russian complexes. Earlier, Turkey offered to simply decommission them, but some American politicians consider this insufficient.

According to Democratic Senator Chris Coons, any country that acquires and deploys S-400s could face the same restrictions and problems as Turkey.

U.S. President Donald Trump made it clear in early July that he was ready to allow Turkey to purchase F-35s and lift the sanctions imposed on it after the purchase of Russian complexes. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated that he expects Trump to fulfill this promise.

However, the U.S. Senate emphasizes: as long as Turkey does not get rid of the S-400s, the F-35 issue remains blocked.

If Ankara cannot sell the complexes to the UAE and finds no other way acceptable to the US to get rid of them, one option could be their complete destruction or scrapping. At the same time, an American official noted that Turkey is apparently still interested in finding another solution to the problem.

The U.S. and NATO allies fear that deploying S-400s alongside Western military equipment would allow Moscow to obtain secret data about American fifth-generation F-35 fighters. Russian specialists servicing the S-400s could potentially study F-35 stealth technologies.

Therefore, due to strong pressure from Western allies and the threat of further economic losses, Ankara never fully deployed the S-400s purchased in 2019 for permanent combat duty. Yet, it spent about $2.5 billion on the deal with Moscow.

As a result, the purchase of S-400s became a geopolitical trap for Turkey: by attempting to demonstrate the independence of its foreign policy and diversify its arms suppliers, Ankara severely damaged relations with the U.S. and NATO, lost access to new-generation F-35 aircraft, and acquired expensive missile systems that are now essentially idle.

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