The start of S-400 SAM system supplies to Turkey is just ‘the first shot’, the MP said in an interview with RT TV Channel.
"Turkey is the first sign. S-400 and a more advanced armament system from Russia will definitely appear in the region. We will cooperate closely; volumes of such cooperation are huge. I am confident we should increase such cooperation at every possible way," Slutsky said.
Deliveries of S-400 to Turkey began on July 12. According to the Turkish Defense Ministry, on this day three cargo planes delivered several tractors and a loading vehicle from the S-400 complex.
Soon afterward, the US began warning Ankara against going ahead with the purchase, including by threatening to remove it from a multilateral program aimed at manufacturing the US’s F-35 warplanes. Several Turkish industrial giants are partaking in the program, and Turkish pilots have trained in the US to fly the aircraft, although that training has recently been halted over Ankara’s refusal to halt the Russian purchase.
The delivery of the Russian system began on Friday, with cargo planes carrying in several tractors and a loading vehicle from the S-400.
Late last month, a Russian official said the country was also ready to deliver the defense system to Iran.
The S-400 is an advanced air and missile defense system intended to engage incoming hostiles at ranges of up to 400 kilometers.
MNA/PR