(Bloomberg) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the country will finish receiving parts for a new Russian air-defense system by April.
READ MORE: Trump Aides Pick Sanctions to Punish Turkey for Russian Missiles
Turkey is buying the S-400 system as “we are trying to guarantee peace and our national security,” Erdogan said in a meeting with media representatives on Sunday, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency. “We are not preparing for war.”
Delivery of S-400 components began on Friday, even amid the threat of possible new U.S. sanctions. The U.S. has said deploying the system could undermine NATO’s military capabilities and potentially jeopardize the F-35 fighter jet, the Pentagon’s costliest program.
To contact the reporter on this story: Kerim Karakaya in Istanbul at kkarakaya2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Andrew Davis at abdavis@bloomberg.net, Neil Denslow, Tony Czuczka
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