Turkey’s purchase of Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems has nothing to do with undermining NATO, but was the logical result of Washington refusing to allow Ankara to purchase the American-made analog, the Patriot system.

That’s according to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who told The New York Times that Ankara has the right to choose who to buy arms from.

“We buy our own weapons,” Erdogan said, explaining that both the NATO secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg, and former President Donald J. Trump had backed Turkey’s right to make its own choices. However, had Washington sold Turkey a Patriot missile defense system, Erdogan “would not have had to buy S-400s,” he explained. (RT)