Flag of Turkey. Archive photoMOSCOW, May 17.Turkey demands for approval of Sweden and Finland joining NATO to include it in the program for the supply of the latest F-35 fighters, as well as to lift US sanctions for the purchase of Russian S-400 air defense systems, Bloomberg reports, citing sources. US State Department spokesman Ned Price previously said that Turkey has not made any specific demands in exchange for supporting Finland's and Sweden's NATO bids. Russia's S-400 missile defense system… Moreover, Turkey wants the US to lift sanctions for its possession of S-400 missiles,» the agency said in a statement. It is alleged that Turkey also wants to buy dozens of F-16 combat aircraft from the US and upgrade kits for its current fighters of this type.In the US, they demanded that NATO countries «punish» Turkey, according to the interlocutors of the agency, Ankara also wants Stockholm and Helsinki to lift the restrictions on arms exports that they imposed on it along with several other members of the European Union in 2019. In addition, the Turkish authorities demand that Sweden and Finland publicly condemn not only the Kurdistan Workers' Party, but also organizations associated with it. According to Turkish sources, «it would be unreasonable to expect» that Ankara will change its position and approve the membership of Sweden and Finland in NATO until the differences are resolved and before the Nordic countries publicly commit themselves to show solidarity with Turkey against Kurdish groups. Air defense S-400. The States canceled the joint memorandum on the F-35 with Turkey, signing it with the seven remaining partners in the F-35 project — the UK, Italy, the Netherlands, Australia, Denmark, Canada and Norway. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan subsequently announced a US proposal to buy other fighters, but not the fifth, but the fourth generation — the F-16. This issue is also to be agreed upon in the US Congress — the State Department is lobbying this issue, convincing congressmen that the deal «serves the interests of Washington».Turkey proposes to send Finland and Sweden «to the waiting room» Last Sunday, the ruling Social Democratic Party of Sweden announced its decision to apply for NATO membership, noting that the country, if approved, would oppose the deployment of nuclear weapons and military bases on its territory. Andersson believes that joining NATO will have a positive impact on the security of the country and the Swedish people. On Sunday, Finland also officially decided to join the North Atlantic Alliance. Stockholm and Helsinki started talking about the possibility of abandoning years of neutrality and joining the North Atlantic Alliance against the backdrop of a Russian special operation in Ukraine. NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said that the organization would be glad to see the Scandinavian states in its ranks and provide them with the opportunity for rapid integration. Moscow has repeatedly noted that NATO is aimed at confrontation. As the press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov emphasized, its further expansion will not bring greater security to Europe. At the same time, the Kremlin representative clarified that he does not consider the possible participation of Helsinki and Stockholm in the unification an existential threat to Moscow. — for the desire to join NATO
