Russia hopes to sign a S-400 missile deal as Turkey tries to solve row with US

Russia hopes to seal a deal to supply Turkey with more S-400 missile systems in the first half of next year, the head of Russian state arms exporter Rosoboronexport, Alexander Mikheev, said in an interview with RIA news agency published on Tuesday.

Turkey's purchase of the S-400 missiles has already drawn the ire of the United States, which has suspended Ankara from the F-35 stealth fighter jet program, which it was a buyer and producer of, to punish it.

Washington has also warned of possible US sanctions, saying the missiles are not compatible with NATO defenses, but has not yet imposed them.

However, President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkish and US officials would conduct efforts until April to resolve a dispute between the two countries over Turkey's purchase of Russian S-400 defense systems, broadcaster NTV reported on Tuesday.

Asked how a solution would be found to the row, Erdogan told reporters during his return from a trip to Qatar on Monday: "There is a process that is ongoing until April. Our defense and foreign ministers will carry out these efforts. We need to see where we get with these efforts."

And a senior US State Department official said last week that Turkey needed to get rid of the S-400s it had already bought to mend fences. 

But Mikheev said in an interview with RIA that Moscow and Ankara were actively discussing Ankara taking up an option that was part of the original contract for it to take delivery of more S-400 systems with talks focused on financial questions.

"We hope that in the first half of 2020 we will sign the contract documents," RIA cited Mikheev as saying. "But I want to stress that military-technical cooperation with Turkey is not limited to the supply of the S-400s. We have big plans ahead."

Mikheev said the option, if signed, would cover a new regiment of S-400s and that some of the system's components would be produced in Turkey.

He said it was premature to talk about which components would be made in Turkey however and in what quantities.

Ankara began receiving the first batch of S-400s in July but they are not yet operational, though Turkish media reported on Monday that Turkish F-16 warplanes would fly over the country's capital to test the system.

Mikheev was cited as saying that efforts by the United States to stop other countries buying Russian military hardware had not been as effective as Washington hoped.

"You can see how confident India, China, Turkey and other countries are on the international stage," he said.

"Many are openly outraged by US sanctions policy, which is trying to prevent them from developing their own armed forces and technical military cooperation with Russia," he said.