30 July 2018•Update: 31 July 2018
By Elena Teslova
MOSCOW
Citing Turkey’s wish to buy Russian missile defense, Russia’s foreign minister on Monday criticized the U.S. for trying to pressure countries which want to buy Russian weapons.
Growing centers of influence will not bow to "ultimatums and threats" when deciding what and where to buy, Sergey Lavrov Lavrov said in a speech to a youth forum.
Countries “will not agree to subjecting their right to trade with whom they want and what they want to ultimatums and threats, as is now the case with contracts for the supply of Russian weapons to a number of states, for example, Turkey, Indonesia and India, when Washington openly requires refusal of these contracts," he said.
Lavrov also warned that such U.S. demands would create "unpredictability, and an additional potential for conflict."
On June 18, the U.S. Congress passed legislation to ban the sale of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey, despite a signed contract between the two countries.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan later said U.S. President Trump had assured him that the sale was not in question, despite the congressional effort.
