Russia Seeks to Return S-400s Previously Sold to Turkey

Russia has approached Turkey with a proposal to buy back the S-400 air defense missile systems that were delivered to Ankara in 2019.

These are two systems purchased by Ankara for $2.5 billion in 2017, which caused a diplomatic conflict with the United States, according to the Turkish newspaper Nefes.

The reason for this is the shortage of systems in Russia’s stockpile and the growing demand from third countries for such air defense systems.

The S-400 systems have not been integrated into NATO structures, and their missiles have already reached half their shelf life.

In addition, they require maintenance, which creates additional costs for Turkey.

Ankara, which is actively developing its own air defense system ‘Çelik Kubbe’ (Steel Dome), is less and less dependent on Russian systems.

At the same time, Turkey is seeking to lift the U.S. sanctions imposed under the CAATSA law, which resulted from the purchase of the S-400. As a result, the country was excluded from the F-35 fighter program.

Russia, for its part, is interested in quickly replenishing its S-400 stockpile, as demand for these systems is growing amid losses at the front.

Moscow has no ready-made systems in reserve, except for those already in use.

Ankara has not yet officially confirmed its readiness for a deal, but sources point to a ‘positive attitude’ toward Moscow’s proposal.

As a reminder, Russia has again postponed the transfer of the latest S-400 air defense systems to India due to its own needs.

During the bilateral meeting between Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov, the new deadlines for the transfer of S-400 systems were discussed – for 2026-2027.