The Turkish Prime Minister said on Monday that US President Donald Trump is unwilling to slap sanctions on Ankara over its S-400 deal with Russia.

Axar.az reports citing Turkish media that he pledged that Ankara will retaliate if the sanctions are imposed, including those which target Turkey’s Incirlik air base.

Cavusoglu added that the S-400 air defences will be put on service in Turkey at the beginning of 2020.

Separately, he pointed out that Turkey’s partners in the F-35 programme are concerned over Washington’s decision to suspend Ankara.

He made it clear that Turkey will “meet its needs elsewhere” if the US does not supply the F-35 fighter jets to Ankara.

The statement comes after the White House said in a press release that Turkey's move to buy Russian S-400 air defence systems “renders its continued involvement with the F-35[project] impossible”.