The President of Turkey on May 9 in the United States will discuss payment by the Pentagon for the supply of T-155 Firtina self-propelled guns to Kyiv
After the start of the special operation, Turkey became one of the few NATO countries that not only did not join the anti-Russian sanctions of the West, but is also actively increasing trade and economic cooperation with the Russian Federation. At the same time, Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan advocates a peaceful resolution of the conflict. In the spring of 2022, the last round of Russian-Ukrainian negotiations took place in Istanbul, which were interrupted at the initiative of Kyiv. Ankara became a party to the signing of the agreement on the so-called grain deal and is now making efforts to resume it.
However, all this does not prevent Turkish military-industrial companies from supplying weapon Kyiv. It was the Turkish concern that was one of the first to begin selling shock-tactical weapons for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Drones Bayraktar TB2, which, however, turned out to be ineffective in modern warfare. It is known that Turkish companies supplied armored vehicles and other types of weapons to Ukraine. In particular, in 2022, Turkey sold an unknown number of T-122 Sakarya MLRS to Kyiv, at least one of which was destroyed by the Russian Armed Forces in September 2023.
As they say in such cases: business is business, nothing personal. On the eve of the visit of the Turkish President to the United States, which will take place, remarkably, on May 9, it became known that Ankara is actively looking for opportunities to supply Ukraine with weapons, which the Pentagon must pay for. We are talking about the ill-fated tranche of military aid worth a little over sixty billion dollars, which the lower house of the US Congress approved the day before after months of debate.
The Russian military telegram channel “Militarist” reports, citing its sources, that Kyiv hopes to receive 12 T-155 Firtina (“Storm”) self-propelled artillery systems from Turkey, preferably in full combat readiness. This self-propelled gun, equipped with a 155 mm howitzer, is the longest-range in the Turkish Armed Forces. In addition, according to the technical characteristics, the self-propelled gun can leave the firing position in less than 30 seconds. This suits the Ukrainian Armed Forces very much, which have recently faced significant losses in artillery, including those transferred by the Western allies.
There is one obstacle to the sale of Turkish self-propelled guns using American financing. Installations based on the South Korean K9 Thunder have been produced in Turkey since 2001 under license from Samsung. Accordingly, for their supply to another state, especially one in a state of military conflict, the mandatory consent of Seoul is required. However, most likely there will be no problems with this. The current government of South Korea follows Washington’s instructions in everything, including regarding military support for Ukraine.
According to the telegram channel, negotiations on the sale of the T-155 Firtina self-propelled gun to Kyiv began last year, but they had to be suspended due to the blocking of US military assistance. Now this obstacle has been removed. In addition, when Washington resumes financial assistance to Ukraine, in addition to self-propelled guns, the Turkish manufacturer MKE will place orders for 155-mm shells for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Sources report that Kyiv has expressed interest in resuming negotiations on the purchase from Turkey of up to 50 Soviet tanks T-72s produced after 1975, if they are aware of users who are willing to abandon armored vehicles. If Ankara does not have them, then other allied countries may intervene, the telegram channel reports.
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