This is a special program from the ANNA News

This is a special program from the ANNA News. I am Constantine Reztsov, today we will talk about the fact that the EU and the USA are going to impose sanctions against Turkey.

The ’Reuters’ reported that the heads of states and governments, who attended the European Council meeting in Brussels, on Thursday, approved a plan to impose limited sanctions against the Turkish citizens and companies, involved in the oil exploration near Cyprus. The White House intends to impose sanctions against Turkey for the purchase of the Russian missile defense systems S-400s.

However, on Thursday, the leaders of the participating countries decided to not impose tougher sanctions right now, and instead — postpone the final decision on the «broad sanctions» until March. The head of the EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, will present a scenario for the future development of the relations between the EU and Turkey. «Before the imposition of sanctions against the Turkish economy, the EU members want to give some diplomatic time once again» — the AFP reports. The French news agency added that Greece and France were disappointed with such decision. Paris believes that decisive steps are needed due to the destabilizing actions of Turkey in the Mediterranean sea. Greece also expected tougher sanctions — the Reuters reported.

The statement mentioned that «the EU intends to coordinate its steps regarding the Turkish actions in the Mediterranean Sea with the USA»

The White House is about to impose sanctions on Turkey due to the purchase of the Russian missile systems ’S-400’ by Ankaka, and due to the Turkish policies in Syria and Libya.

The US authorities are expected to formally announce the sanctions at a later date. According to the reports, Ismail Demir, the head of the defense industry of the Turkish Defense Ministry, will fall under the restrictions.

The US State Department underlined that the sanctions against Turkey, an American NATO ally, will come after a series of warnings.

The Turkish currency was weakened by the news from Washington. This move of the US authorities was criticized by Ankara.

“The sanctions won’t achieve their goal. They will be counter-productive. They will only ruin the relationship” — a senior anonymous Turkish government official told to the Reuters.

The US objected to the purchase of the S-400 systems from the start. The American experts believe that the radars of the Russian missile systems can eventually detect and track the F-35 fighters, thus making their stealth capabilities questionable. The NATO also opposes the Turkish deal with Russia. The NATO commanders insist that the Russian weaponry is incompatible with the NATO military systems.

The sanctions will be imposed a little over a month before Democrat Joe Biden will, likely, take over as the US president. His administration also mentioned tough actions against Ankara.

The ’ANNA News’ agency monitors the events around the globe. Stay tuned.