Turkey and Russia condemn the US sanctions over Ankara

Shafaq News/ Turkey condemned as a “grave mistake” U.S. sanctions and said on Monday it will retaliate as necessary after it repeatedly called on Washington to solve the issue through dialogue.

Earlier on Monday the United States acted on its long-threatened move and imposed sanctions on the top Turkish defense development body, its president and three employees.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry said sanctions were “inexplicable” after Washington repeatedly rejected Ankara’s offer to form a joint working group. It called on its NATO ally to revise the “unjust” decision that will harm bilateral ties.

In the same context, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday condemned the US sanctions against Turkey.

"This is, of course, another manifestation of an arrogant attitude towards international law, a manifestation of illegitimate, unilateral coercive measures that the United States has been using for many years, already decades, left and right," Lavrov said according to Russian news agencies.

"And, of course, this does not add, I think, to the credibility of the United States in the international arena as a responsible participant... including in the field of military-technology cooperation," Lavrov added.

The Trump administration slapped sanctions on Turkey on Monday over a multibillion-dollar acquisition of a Russian missile system.

The long-anticipated move is expected to further stoke tensions between Washington and Ankara in the weeks ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s ascension to the White House and send a message to foreign governments considering future weapons deals with Russia.

In 2017, Turkish President Recep Erdogan brokered a deal reportedly worth $2.5 billion with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the S-400 missile system.

The S-400, a mobile surface-to-air missile system, is said to pose a risk to the NATO alliance as well as the F-35, America’s most expensive weapons platform.