ANKARA, April 21. /TASS/: Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Russia can buy Turkish weapons and military equipment if it needs it.
"Turkey is selling its drones to those who need them. The deal [with Ukraine] is not aimed against Russia. If Russia has the need to buy our products, it can buy them, just like we earlier purchased its S-400 [air defense systems]," he told the Haber Turk TV channel.
Cavusoglu reiterated that Turkey continues negotiations with Russia about buying the second regiment of S-400 air defense systems.
On April 12, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, commenting on reports of Ankara selling combat drones to Kiev, that Moscow urged responsible countries, including Turkey, to assess Kiev’s bellicose statements and refrain from encouraging its militaristic aspirations. An unnamed diplomatic source told the Turkiye newspaper that Ankara was ready to sell its weapons and drones to all countries, including Russia, without any distinction.
In 2019, Ukraine purchased and tested Turkey’s Bayraktar TB2 unmanned aerial vehicles, planning to equip them with the MAM-L micro guided munitions. Director General of Ukraine’s Ukrspetsexport company Vadim Nozdrya said in October 2020 that Kiev was interested in the joint production of the Bayraktar drones.
