Turkey secretly banned the export of US military equipment to Russia after Washington warned Ankara of “consequences” if it does not stop trade. The Financial Timesreported UNN.
Details
Ankara has made changes to its customs systems in recent weeks to block exports of more than four dozen categories of U.S.-origin goods that Washington and its Western allies consider vital to Moscow's military action in Ukraine, according to three people with direct knowledge of the situation.
Turkey's electronic customs system no longer allows exporters to send shipments of so-called “battlefield goods” to Russia, although they could previously be delivered there, one of the people said. Similar goods coming from the EU were blocked earlier and remain so, the two people said.
The trade restrictions, which affect parts such as microchips and remote control systems and are used in weapons, have not been announced publicly because of “political sensitivities,” one of the interlocutors said.
But the quiet bans on military-related exports to Russia are the latest sign that Turkey is moving away from the “lifeline” role from Western sanctions that it assumed at the start of the war, the publication said.
Britain imposes the “largest” sanctions against Russia's shadow fleet17.10.2024, 14:07
Turkish banks have sharply reduced business with Russian counterparties this year after the U.S. issued an executive order threatening sanctions against lenders processing transactions for the Kremlin's war machine.
Turkey has imposed trade restrictions at a time when the U.S. is trying to limit russia's access to Western technology used in moscow's military systems.
Turkey believes that peace talks should include all parties to the war - Fidan21.10.2024, 16:11
The banned goods are taken from a list of 50 “high priority” Western-made goods that the US, UK, EU and Japan have identified as critical for Russian imports for their arms industries.
Among them are advanced electronics regularly found in missiles and drones shot down in Ukraine, such as processors and memory cards, as well as machine tools and other equipment used to manufacture weapons.
Washington has long feared that Turkey is being used as an intermediary through which Russia gains access to military goods, a suspicion that has soured relations between the two allies.
The Biden administration has sent senior officials to Turkey to press Erdogan's government to take action, and to impose sanctions on Turkish companies for engaging in trade with Russia.
Recall
Earlier, the director of the Kiev Research Institute of Forensic Expertise, Oleksandr Ruvin, said in a commentary on UNN that the Russians are trying to hide the fact that they use foreign microelectronics components in their guided aerial bombs by various means. This makes it difficult to identify them, but Ukrainian experts still identify the origin of these components and pass the relevant information to Western partners.