OREANDA-NEWS. The United States intends to continue to exert pressure on Turkey, seeking its refusal from the S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems (SAM) acquired from Russia. This was confirmed on Wednesday at a meeting with a small group of journalists, including a Russian media correspondent, US Under Secretary of Defense for Political Affairs John Rood.

According to him, the US authorities "had further meetings and discussions with Turkish colleagues on this issue". "The short answer is that we didn't give up on this question. We continue to interact with the Turks in this direction in order to convince them to take a different path. There is an old saying: no matter how far you go along the wrong road, it’s never too late to turn back. We will continue to interact with them, trying to resolve this in a positive way", the Pentagon deputy head emphasized.

In September 2017, Russia announced the conclusion of a contract with Turkey for the supply of S-400 worth $ 2.5 billion. Turkey and the United States are actively opposing the purchase of S-400. On July 17, the White House announced that Turkey’s decision to acquire the S-400 made it impossible to continue its participation in the F-35 production program. In addition, the United States may introduce restrictive measures against Turkey.