Pentagon chief pushes to waive sanctions for US allies that buy Russian S-400s
US Defense Secretary James Mattis is seeking to circumvent potential conflicts with US allies that have purchased Russian military equipment with an appeal to US legislators to relax sanctioning requirements against countries that do so, Sputnik News reports.
Mattis told the Senate Armed Services Committee Thursday that "national security exemptions" ought to be injected into the existing Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), arguing that it is in the US' long-term interest to avoid such conflicts with its allies.
"There are nations in the world who are trying to turn away from formerly Russian-sourced weapons and systems," Mattis said, arguing that those countries still rely on Moscow to update their existing systems with new technology.
"We only need to look at India, Vietnam and some others to recognize that eventually we're going to penalize ourselves," he said.