No sign of break in Turkish-US arms deal impasse

Significance

Blinken was told Turkey’s purchase of the Russian S-400 air defence system was a closed issue, Cavusoglu said. NATO member Turkey remains unwilling to give them up even at the expense of relations with the United States deteriorating further under President Joe Biden.

Impacts

• Biden’s determination to revitalise NATO, post-Trump, signals there will be no tolerance for Turkish moves to destabilise the alliance.
• Sanctions on Turkey’s procurement agency will work against Turkey’s push towards defence sector self-sufficiency.
• Anything short of deploying the S-400s would be politically unacceptable for the government’s domestic base.