The United States imposed sanctions against Turkey for the purchase of the Triumph air defense system from Russia

The sanctions were imposed against the Turkish Defense Industry Directorate and four high-ranking officials from the department's leadership.

“The Turkish Foreign Ministry condemned Washington’s actions and promised retaliatory measures,” Kommersant reports.

As the State Department clarified, Turkey continued to purchase and test the S-400 system from Russia, despite US warnings.

“Today's sanctions against the Turkish Defense Industry Authority demonstrate that the US is in full compliance with CAATSA. We will not tolerate major transactions with the Russian defense sector, ”the publication quotes the statement of the head of the State Department, Mike Pompeo.

The personal US sanctions imposed on the head of the Defense Industry Directorate Ismail Demir, his deputy Faruk Yigit, the head of the air defense and space division Serhat Gentzoglu and the head of the regional air defense system management program Mustafa Alper Deniz imply a freeze of the assets of these Turkish officials in the United States. In addition, they have been banned from entering the country.

Moscow reacted painfully to the actions of the American authorities. As Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, the sanctions imposed on Turkey are nothing more than "another manifestation of an arrogant attitude towards international law, a manifestation of illegitimate, unilateral coercive measures that the United States has been using for many years - already decades - left and right."

Instead of the Russian S-400, the American authorities offered Turkey to acquire its own production of Patriot complexes. However, Ankara refused them.