While Washington remained transfixed by Michael Cohen’s testimony to Congress and lingering questions about Moscow’s interference in U.S. politics, Russia flexed its muscles, with Turkey’s foreign minster declaring that a long-disputed plan to buy Russian missiles was a “done deal.”
The purchase of the missiles, Russian S-400s, is a slap in the face to Washington, which has long opposed the purchase. As a member of NATO, Turkey’s use of Russian missiles would jeopardize the alliance’s integrated defenses by adopting technology that is incompatible and potentially compromised by Moscow — the very adversary that NATO was formed to guard against.
Washington and NATO had hoped that Turkey might yet break off the deal and instead purchase U.S.-produced Patriot missiles. Indeed, earlier this month, Vice President Mike Pence, speaking at the Munich Security Conference warned, “We will not stand idly by while NATO allies purchase weapons from our adversaries. We cannot ensure the defense of the West if our allies grow dependent on the East.”
Pence is right to be worried. Russia has recently exerted influence over countries that it views as rightly within its sphere of influence. But as difficult as things have become, the U.S. should continue to pursue improved relations with Ankara.
Turkey is an important ally occupying a key geographic position at the crossroads of Central Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. That has made the country a strategic ally hosting airbases and missiles and serving as a launch point for U.S. and NATO operations in the Middle East.
Those same strategic considerations have also made Turkey a prime target for other foreign powers, Russia chief among them. Increased relations between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin is a clear blow to Washington’s interests, threatening to block U.S. access to the Middle East and cut its regional influence.