The Trump administration imposed sanctions on Turkey on Monday, three years after Turkish President Recep Erdogan brokered a $2.5 billion deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the S-400 missile system.
The sanctions will further strain the relationship between the two NATO members weeks before President-elect Joe Biden takes office.
“Today’s action sends a clear signal that the US will fully implement CAATSA Section 231 and will not tolerate significant transactions with Russia’s defence and intelligence sectors,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday.
“I also urge Turkey to resolve the S-400 problem immediately in coordination with the United States. Turkey is a valued Ally and an important regional security partner for the United States, and we seek to continue our decades-long history of productive defense-sector cooperation by removing the obstacle of Turkey’s S-400 possession as soon as possible,” he added.
The sanctions include a ban on all U.S. export licenses to Turkey’s Presidency of Defense Industries, as well as an asset freeze and visa restrictions for its president Ismail Demir and other senior officials.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle urged the administration to sanction Ankara, though President Trump had previously refused. U.S. officials had previously said that sanctions could be avoided if Turkey did not employ the system, but Turkish officials test fired it in October.
Congress last week passed its annual defense policy bill that forced the White House to implement sanctions within 30 days.
Officials have said the mobile surface-to-air missile system poses a risk to the NATO alliance and the F-35, the U.S.’s most expensive weapons platform.
The acquisition violated the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which was passed in summer 2017 and targeted Iran, North Korea and Russia, requiring sanctions on any country that made a “significant purchase” of defense equipment from Russia.
The Trump administration has only used the sanctions once before, against China’s defense procurement agency for its purchase of a S400 as well as a Russian Sukhoi Su-35 combat aircraft.