The United States warned Turkey against activating the Russian S-400 missile system, stressing that there are consequences.
The US Permanent Representative to NATO, Kay Bailey Hutchison, called on Turkey to rethink its decision, raising concerns about Turkish behavior.
“The idea that you could put a Russian-made missile defense system in the middle of our alliance is out of bounds. And we have registered that with Turkey time and again,” she said at an online press briefing.
The envoy indicated that it is not too late for Turkey to withdraw from its deal with Russia.
Hutchison also said that Turkey's search for hydrocarbon resources in the disputed waters in the eastern Mediterranean, as well as its involvement in the conflict in Karabakh, “are problematic to the unity of the alliance.”
In 2017, Turkey signed an agreement to purchase the Russian system for $2.5 billion, which was delivered in July 2019.
The deal angered Washington and NATO, and although Ankara hasn’t activated it yet and pledged to use it independently of the NATO system, the US prevented it from acquiring F-35 fighters.
US congressmen have urged President Donald Trump to punish Turkey for buying the missiles under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) but he delayed the sanctions.
Turkey is now awaiting Democratic President-elect Joe Biden to reach the White House, to see how his administration would deal with the issue.
Ankara asserts that it was forced to deal with Russia to cover its needs after Washington's reluctance, under Barack Obama’s administration, to sell it the Patriot air defense system and the NATO withdrawal of Patriot batteries from its territory.
