Russian S-400 air defence systems will enter service in Turkey in April, says Erdogan

Russian-made S-400 air defence missile systems will enter service in Turkey in April, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday.

"S-400 [systems] are already ours. We are continuing to learn to work with them. The air defence missile systems will be ready to be used in April. Yesterday, I told [Russian colleagues], that if the United States supplies us with Patriot air defence systems, we will buy them too," Erdogan said, as quoted by the Hurriyet newspaper.

Deliveries of the S-400 missile defence systems to Turkey, which has caused a crisis in Washington-Ankara relations, started in July 2019.

The United States has demanded that Turkey cancel all purchases of the Russian-made systems, saying that it expected Ankara to purchase US-made Patriot missile defence systems and threatening to delay or cancel any deliveries of F-35 fighter jets. Turkey has refused to make concessions.