Lavrov: Russia appreciates Turkey’s position on S-400

ANTALYA (RIA Novosti): Russia highly appreciates Turkey’s position on the development of military-technical cooperation, including Ankara’s intention to use the first regiment of the S -400 air defense system to ensure its defense capability, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
“We highly appreciated the principled position of Turkey on the development of military-technical cooperation, including the intention of our Turkish friends to use the first regiment of the S-400 Triumph anti-aircraft missile system to ensure their own defense capability,” Lavrov said following talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
Lavrov said that the Russian Federation is satisfied with its interaction with Turkey on the Montr-eux Convention; during the negotiations with the Tur-kish Foreign Minister, it w-as fixed that the plans to b-uild the Istanbul Canal wo-uld not affect the parameters of the presence of fore-ign navies in the Black Sea.
“We are satisfied with the interaction with our Turkish friends, colleagues on the implementation of the Montreux Convention. Today, during the talks, we fixed that in no way the plans for the construction of the Istanbul canal will affect the parameters of the presence of foreign navies in the Black Sea,” Lavrov said at a briefing following talks with his Turkish counterpart.
Earlier, Presiden Erdo-gan announced the imminent start of the constructi-on of the Istanbul canal, w-hich will run parallel to the Bosphorus and connect the Black and Marmara Seas.