The second contract for deliveries of Russia’s S-400 Triumph air defense systems to Turkey will be signed this year, Rosoboronexport Director General Alexander Mikheev said on Wednesday.

Earlier on Monday, the head of Russia’s arms exporter company said that the contract will be signed in the near future.

“In the near future means this year. We expect that the second contract on S-400 for Turkey will be signed this year,” Mikheev told reporters.

The decision by Turkey, a NATO member, to purchase the Russian-made S-400 air defense systems triggered a crisis in relations between the two allies in 2019, when the first batch, negotiated in 2017, was delivered to the country.

Despite the US authorities’ repeated demands to abandon the deal and ensuing sanctions, Turkey refused to make concessions and has continued negotiating additional shipments of the Russian weapons.

Source: Agencies