Trump, Erdogan Agree on Forming Study Group Over Russian S-400s

(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump agreed with Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan to form a joint study group on the Russian S-400 missile defense system, which Turkey wants to buy despite U.S. pressure to abandon the purchase, according to officials from both nations familiar with the decision.

In a call with Trump on Wednesday, the Turkish president reiterated his desire to jointly examine any risks the system poses to the next-generation F-35 jet, according to a Turkish official who asked not to be identified discussing details of the call. Trump agreed, though the American view is that the group's findings will support the U.S. position that deploying the Russian system would put the fighter plane at risk, according to an American official.

The agreement signals progress but hardly represents a breakthrough: The two NATO allies remain at odds on key issues. While Turkey maintains that there's no going back on the S-400 purchase, Americans see any joint study as a means to explain to Turkey why the Russian and U.S.-made advanced weaponry are incompatible and that Turkey will need to choose one over the other.

Asked about creation of a joint study group, Garrett Marquis, a spokesman for the White House's National Security Council, said “we have nothing new to announce at this time” as “we continue robust discussions with our Turkish counterparts at all levels.”

“We have been clear that obtaining the S-400 would create an unacceptable risk to U.S. technology, our pilots, and our aircraft,” Marquis said in a statement. “The United States has sent technical teams to Turkey more than once and hosted counterparts here to discuss the threat posed by the S-400.”

Stealth F-35

For now, Turkey is pressing ahead with plans to deploy S-400s despite U.S. arguments that the Russian system could collect critical information on the stealth capabilities of the F-35 that Lockheed Martin Corp. in the U.S. is building jointly with international partners including Turkish companies. The Trump administration has warned that taking delivery of the missiles would trigger sanctions. Erdogan has so far rebuffed the threats, saying the purchase is key to meeting his country's air defense needs.

“The F-35 and the S-400 are incompatible,” Acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan told reporters in Singapore on Friday, before reports about the study group emerged. “If Turkey's going to buy an S-400, then we should not sell them F-35s. The S-400 is designed to shoot down the F-35, and you wouldn't mix the two.”

It wasn't immediately clear what the next step on the formation of the study group would be or what the time frame would be.

Turkey is considering deploying the Russian system along its southern coast, near where Turkish warships are accompanying vessels exploring for energy, people with knowledge of the deliberations have said.

--With assistance from Glen Carey.

To contact the reporters on this story: Firat Kozok in Ankara at fkozok@bloomberg.net;Jennifer Jacobs in Washington at jjacobs68@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Onur Ant at oant@bloomberg.net, ;Alaa Shahine at asalha@bloomberg.net, ;Rosalind Mathieson at rmathieson3@bloomberg.net, ;Michael Shepard at mshepard7@bloomberg.net, Bill Faries, Larry Liebert