Turkey's Erdogan says U.S. softening stance on purchase of Patriot systems

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said that the United States was softening its stance on a potential sale of U.S. Patriot defence systems, adding that Washington had asked Ankara to guarantee it will not activate Russian S-400 defence systems.

"We made this offer to the United States on the Patriot: If you are going to give us Patriots, then do it. We can also buy Patriots from you," Erdogan told reporters on a return flight from Brussels. "They also softened significantly on this S-400 issue. They are now at the point of 'promise us you won't make the S-400s operational'," he added.