According to reports by TASS and Russia Today on the 26th, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said on Saturday that Russia might agree to Turkey transferring the S-400 air defense system to ‘reliable’ countries that maintain friendly relations with Moscow. He also stated that Turkey is well aware that it is not possible to move the S-400 without official permission from Russia. Currently, Ankara has not made such a request to Moscow.
During a press conference held after the high-level meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York that day, when asked whether Russia would agree to Turkey's sale of the S-400 system, Lavrov replied, "We will consider any proposal. I cannot comment now, but this possibility exists only if we agree. The condition is that the countries that receive these S-400 systems must be responsible and maintain friendly relations with the Russian Federation, so that we can be sure these systems will not flow anywhere from that country."
"This is particularly important for us, because there is ample evidence that Europeans are wandering around the world—please forgive me for saying this—buying weapons from Africa, Asia, Latin American countries, and the Arab world. These weapons were supposed to be kept out of any hands, but in reality, they all end up in the Ukrainian regime," he said.
Lavrov emphasized: “Therefore, when such requests arise and it can be ensured that such violations will not occur, we are willing to provide the S-400 to such countries.”
When asked if “such a country could be the UAE”, he replied: “We do not consider any options. We will only understand what Turkey specifically wants to do when they make their requests.”
