Russia ready for talks with Turkey on sale of SU-35, SU-57 fighter jets: Military official

A Russian military official says Russia is ready for holding talks with Turkey on the possible delivery of Russian-made SU-35 and SU-57 fighter jets providing that Moscow receives the corresponding request Ankara.

The spokeswoman for Russia’s Federal Service for Military and Technical Cooperation (FSVTS), Valeria Reshetnikova, made the remarks on Friday, the TASS news agency reported.

“As for Ankara’s potential plans of purchasing Russian Su-35 and Su-57 fighters, it should be noted that the Turkish side has been informed about their technical specifications in full. If there is a request from Turkey for these planes, we are ready for negotiations on this issue,” she said.

Led by Dmitry Shugaev, the FSVTS is a federal executive body responsible for control and oversight in the field of military-technical cooperation between the Russian Federation and foreign countries. It is under the direct authority of the Russian Ministry of Defense.

Turkey, a NATO member state, has already purchased the Russian S-400 missile defense systems. Ankara and Moscow had finalized an agreement on the delivery of the S-400 missile systems in late 2017.

The move angered the United States and the US-led NATO, prompting Washington to impose sanctions on Turkey over the purchase late last year, alleging that the Russian systems are not compatible with the military hardware owned by the other countries of the Western military alliance.

Ankara condemned the US move as a “grave mistake” that would inevitably harm mutual relations and threatened retaliation.

Turkey won’t bow to US pressure, will advance S-400 purchase: Russian official

A Russian military official says Turkey would not cave in to pressure from the United States over advancing the purchase of the Russian S-400 missile defense systems.

Furthermore, Washington also alleges that the S-400 defense systems pose a threat to the American Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth fighter jets, which were to be jointly produced in Turkey. That production was canceled by the White House over Ankara’s S-400 purchase.

Elsewhere in her remarks on Friday, Reshetnikova said that Russia had earlier expressed its readiness to take part in the program of developing the Turkish TF-X fifth-generation fighter, which is a proposed stealth twin-engine, all-weather warplane being developed by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) in collaboration with BAE Systems.

“The Turkish side has for quite long stated its intention to implement the project of developing its own TF-X fifth-generation fighter. Russia earlier indicated that it was ready to consider the possibility of cooperation under this program. However, we have not received a corresponding request from Ankara so far,” she added.

Before turning to Russia, the Turkish military, which seeks to boost its air defense, reportedly walked out of a $3.4-billion contract for a similar Chinese system. The withdrawal took place under purported pressure from Washington.

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