The United States on Monday imposed sanctions on Turkey’s military procurement agency after the NATO ally defiantly bought Russia’s S-400 air defense system, AFP reported. 

“Today’s action sends a clear signal that the United States will fully implement (US law) and will not tolerate significant transactions with Russia’s defense and intelligence sectors,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement.

President Donald Trump’s administration said it was banning all US export licenses to the Presidency of Defense Industries and refusing any visas for the agency’s president, Ismail Demir.

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov his Turkish counterpart condemned US sanctions against Turkey.

“This is, of course, another manifestation of an arrogant attitude towards international law, a manifestation of illegitimate, unilateral coercive measures that the United States has been using for many years, already decades, left and right,” Lavrov said, according to Russian news agencies.

“And, of course, this does not add, I think, to the credibility of the United States in the international arena as a responsible participant including in the field of military-technology cooperation,” Lavrov added.

Turkish foreign ministry issued a statement over “unfair” US sanctions on its SSB military procurement agency.

“We urge the US to reconsider this unfair decision as announced today emphasizing once again that Turkey stands ready to address this issue through dialogue and diplomacy in conformity with the spirit of alliance that binds the two NATO partners”, the Turkish foreign ministry said.

Russia last year delivered the S-400 air defense system despite warnings that it is not compatible with being part of the NATO alliance.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had warned that sanctions would be “disrespectful,” even though his government went ahead with testing.

“The United States made clear to Turkey at the highest levels and on numerous occasions that its purchase of the S-400 system would endanger the security of US military technology and personnel and provide substantial funds to Russia’s defense sector, as well as Russian access to the Turkish armed forces and defense industry,” Pompeo said.

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“Turkey nevertheless decided to move ahead with the procurement and testing of the S-400, despite the availability of alternative NATO-interoperable systems to meet its defense requirements.”

The United States has already evicted Turkey from joint efforts in developing the F-35 fighter-jet.