Turkish Foreign Ministry denies reports on creating of working group with US

The Turkish Foreign Ministry has denied reports disseminated in the Turkish media that Ankara and Washington have formed a working group to resolve Turkey's acquisition of the Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems (SAM), Report states, citing a source in the Ministry.

"Our Mr. Minister at the closed part of today's conference said that "a joint working group with the United States on the S-400 has not been formed, there are technical negotiations." He said that "Turkish and the US departments would create a collaborative group at the technical level on sanctions, "- said the Foreign Ministry.

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Ankara and Washington have started talks to form a joint working group regarding Turkey's purchase of Russian S-400 missile defense systems and the US sanctions stemming from it, Report states, citing RIA Novosti.

"A joint working group was created with the United States on the S-400, technical negotiations began," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said at a press conference.

The US has previously imposed sanctions on Turkish officials and institutions responsible for the purchase of the S-400. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Cavusoglu that Turkey's acquisition of the Russian S-400 missile defense system is a threat to the United States.