BRUSSELS: The US envoy to Nato said on Tuesday that Turkey will be axed from the high-tech F-35 fighter jet programme if it goes ahead with plans to buy Russian S-400 air defence missiles.

US Ambassador Kay Bailey Hutchison said “there will be a disassociation with the F-35” if Nato member Turkey buys the Russian missile system, as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to do. Speaking on the eve of Nato talks in Brussels, Hutchison said “we cannot have the F-35 in any way affected by, or destabilised by, having this Russian system.” The United States and other Nato allies have repeatedly complained about the purchase, saying the S-400 is not compatible with other allied systems and represents a security threat, particularly to the F-35.

But Hutchison said Turkey does not appear ready “to retract on the sale.” Indeed, Erdogan repeated on Tuesday that Turkey had no intention of doing so.

“Turkey does not negotiate, seek permission or bow to pressure from other countries on the issue of meeting its security needs,” the Turkish leader told his ruling party’s legislators.

Published in Dawn, June 26th, 2019