US ‘seriously concerned’ about Turkey's S-400 purchase

US special representative says Turkey's purchase of Russian S-400 defence systems is very serious concern.

ISTANBUL - Turkey's purchase of Russian S-400 defence systems is a very serious concern as Washington considers what support to offer over Syria's Idlib, the US special representative for the region James Jeffrey said on Thursday.

Speaking in Istanbul, Jeffrey also said the United States had already offered humanitarian assistance and information sharing with Turkey and was pressing European allies for a significant contribution.

Jeffrey’s statement came two days after he said that Washington would not provide fresh supplies of ammunition to Turkey for its military intervention in Syria’s Idlib province.

Washington, clearly not interested in getting directly involved in the conflict, signalled its readiness instead to drive a wedge between Turkey and Russia and to extract concessions from Ankara.

“I hope that President Erdogan will see that we are the ally of their past and their future and they need to drop the S-400,” said US Ambassador to NATO Kay Bailey Hutchison.

Washington says Ankara's purchase of the Russian system is not compatible with NATO defences and also poses a threat to the F-35 'stealth' fighter jet Lockheed Martin is developing.

The US has threatened further sanctions over the S-400 deal after removing Turkey from the F-35 fighter jet programme earlier last year.