The Kremlin said on Friday that it was in touch with Turkey about the fate of Russian S-400 missile systems, which Ankara owns, after a news outlet reported that Turkey was poised to transfer the air defense missiles to an unnamed Gulf country.
Turkish news outlet Hurriyet reported earlier that Turkey could announce it will resell the S-400s to one of the Gulf nations as soon as Friday in order to persuade the United States to lift sanctions on Ankara.
In 2020, the U.S. sanctioned fellow NATO member Turkey over the purchase of the S-400s and removed it from a procurement and manufacturing programme for F-35 fighter jets.
Asked on Friday about the media report and if Turkey had sought Russia's permission to go ahead with the alleged deal, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the issue is "extremely sensitive."
"However, we have been in contact with the Turkish side on this matter, and we will continue to maintain contact with them on this issue," Peskov said.
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