TURKEY yesterday dismissed U.S. threats of sanctions if it went ahead with a Russian missile purchase, saying it would not renege on a pledge to Moscow.

Washington has warned its NATO ally for months that Ankara’s adoption of Russian S-400 missile technology alongside U.S. F-35 fighters would pose a threat to the jets and endanger Western defense.

The U.S. has said it will halt a joint F-35 program with Turkey if it acquires the Russian missile defense system. A U.S. law furthermore provides for sanctions on any country concluding arms deals with Russian companies.

“The U.S. threats of sanctions shows that they don’t know Turkey,” Vice President Fuat Oktay told Kanal 7 television.

“The decision on the S-400 has been taken. Once a pact has been signed, one’s word given, Turkey respects it,” he said.

The S-400 purchase is one dispute fuelling tensions between two nations also at odds over U.S. support for Syrian Kurdish militias, which Ankara brands as terrorists and Turkish backing for U.S. foe Venezuela.

Ankara said the first deliveries of the S-400 are scheduled for June or July. (SD-Agencies)