Senators note that to date, the US presidential administration has not imposed sanctions on Turkey for the purchase of the S-400, and reports on the activation of the S-400 radars “clearly show that Turkey does not intend to abandon this system”.
According to channel 112 Ukraine, Senators Chris Van Hollen and James Lankford called on the US State Department to impose sanctions against Turkey in connection with the planned tests of Russian S-400 air defense systems.
“We are concerned about reports of Turkey’s activation of S-400 radars to detect US-made F-16 fighters returning at the end of August from exercises in France, Italy, Greece and Cyprus, dedicated to Turkey’s aggression in the Eastern Mediterranean. We again call for the imposition of sanctions against Turkey, as required by law”, – reads a letter posted on Van Hollen’s website.
In addition, lawmakers want an answer to the question of whether Turkey has implemented the Link-16 communications system, which is NATO’s tactical data transmission channel, into Russian S-400s, and whether this could allow Russia to spy on NATO allies.