Turkish foreign minister says Russian S-400 air defense no threat to NATO

DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) – Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday that Russia’s S-400 air defense system was compatible with NATO, which needed to set up a working group to study it.

“The claim is that the S400 and F-35s are incompatible. That’s the claim. Here is our proposal, let’s have a working group and NATO can chair this and let’s let experts make the assessment and come back to us,” he said.

“We believe the S400 and F-35 are compatible,” Cavusoglu said during a panel discussion at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos.

“It does not pose any threats to the NATO system or to NATO allies,” he added.

(This story corrects to F-35s (not F-45s) after clarification by Cavusoglu)

(Reporting by Luke Baker; Editing by Alexander Smith)