Maria Zakharova

The sanctions against Turkey imposed by the United States over the purchase of Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems (SAM) demonstrate Washington's inability to compete fairly. This statement was made by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova, RIA Novosti reports.

“This is another manifestation of the inability to compete by playing by the rules. Additional steps are needed to secure some competitive advantages for oneself, despite the fact that these steps are illegal. These include unilateral sanctions in the military-industrial complex, ”Zakharova said during the briefing.

Turkey yesterday also condemned the restrictive measures introduced by the United States, calling them baseless and unfair. The Turkish Foreign Ministry stressed that there are no technical grounds for the sanctions – the assertions that the acquisition of these air defense systems makes NATO systems vulnerable have no real basis.

On December 14, Washington imposed sanctions on Ankara. They hit the staff of the Turkish defense department and officials, in particular, the head of the secretariat of the Turkish defense industry Ismail Demir, as well as three other individuals.

Deliveries of the S-400, which caused a crisis in relations between Turkey and the United States, began in mid-July 2019. Washington demanded to abandon the deal and purchase American Patriot complexes in return, threatening to delay or even cancel the sale of the latest F-35 fighters to Turkey.