President Trump placed sanctions on Turkey for purchasing a Russian anti-aircraft defense missile system, delivering a long-awaited punishment in a controversy that threatens the unity of NATO.
“We engaged in months and months of diplomacy with the Turkish government at every level to help Turkey find an off-ramp from the procurement of the S-400 system while still ensuring its legitimate national security needs are met,” State Department Deputy Assistant Secretary Matthew Palmer, a senior member of the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, told reporters Monday. “Imposing sanctions on a NATO ally is not something we take lightly.”
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