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By Trend

A US delegation will discuss in Turkey the issue of selling the Patriot surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) on Jan. 15-16, Trend reports with reference to CNN Turk.

The US representatives intend to meet with officials of the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries (SSM) of Turkey. In addition, it is noted that a Turkish delegation plans to visit Washington in late January.

Earlier, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Turkey may buy the Patriot SAMs provided that the US won’t insist on the rejection of buying the S-400 air defense systems from Russia.

It was earlier reported that the US administration decided to sell Patriot SAMs to Turkey for a total of $3.5 billion. Permission was obtained for the sale of 80 Patriot MIM-104E anti-aircraft guided missiles and 60 PAC-3 missiles, as well as related equipment.

First reports on the negotiations of the Russian Federation and Turkey on the supply of S-400 appeared in November 2016. The conclusion of a contract was confirmed by the Russian side on Sept. 12, 2017.

Turkish National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said the deployment of S-400 will begin in October 2019. The head of Russia's state corporation Rostec, Sergey Chemezov, said in December 2017 that the cost of S-400 will be $2.5 billion for Turkey.

Turkey is the first NATO state to receive such an air defense system from Russia.

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