Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler has ruled out the possibility of transferring the Russian-made S-400 missile defense system to any other country, including Ukraine.
It is impossible for us to provide our S-400 system to any other country, Yasar Guler said in an interview with CNN when asked if Turkey had received any proposal to transfer the S-400 system to Ukraine.
In May last year, former Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that the US had proposed Turkey sending the S-400 system to Ukraine, but Turkey had rejected the proposal.
Relations between the US and Turkey were strained in 2017 when Turkey and Russia reached an agreement to buy the S-400 missile.
Washington said the S-400 would not be compatible with NATO's weapons systems and could expose NATO's secret military information to Russia.
Washington has since stopped handing over F-35 fighter jets to Turkey and imposed sanctions on the country for purchasing Russian-made air defense systems.
In late April, Business Insider reported that Turkey could deploy an advanced Russian S-400 Triumf air defense system on the Syrian border for a planned summer attack on the Partisan Workers' Party (PKK) in the Partisan region of Iraq.
Turkish media also said that the S-400 is likely to be deployed at the border to protect Turkey against drones that the PKK has purchased.
However, Business Insider notes that the S-400 has the ability to counter greater threats than rudimentary drones.
The Russian-made missile is designed to shoot down cruise missiles and ballistic missiles similar to those fired by Iran in its attack on Israel on April 13.
And the deployment of the S-400 could intensify Turkey's tensions with other NATO allies.
The S-400 purchase deal costs Turkey about $2.5 billion. indirectly, Turkey paid a much higher price when it lost the opportunity to earn more than $9 billion from the production of more than 900 components in the global F-35 supply chain.
After Turkey received the S-400 from Russia, US officials have warned Turkey not to "activate" the missile.
Turkey tested F-16 and F-4 fighter jets against S-400 radars in late 2019. Washington strongly criticized Turkey in October 2020 for claiming to be testing the S-400 system.
Since then, there have been no signs that the Turkish S-400 has been put into operation. In November 2022, then-Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Turkey "had no problem with the S-400" and the system was ready for use.
The deployment on the Syrian border will be the first time Turkey's S-400 has been used in five years since Turkey handed over the system in 2019.
