Qatar in 'advanced' S-400 systems talks with Russia, envoy to Moscow says

Qatar is in talks with Moscow to buy Russian S-400 missile air defense systems, Qatari ambassador to Russia said in an interview published Thursday.

"Talks about the subject are at an advanced stage," Fahad bin Mohammed Al-Attiyah said in an interview with Russian news agency TASS.

He added that Qatar was also negotiating purchases of military hardware for Qatari ground troops.

He recalled that during the visit of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to Doha in October 2017 an agreement on military-technical cooperation was signed between the two countries.

"This opens the way for further cooperation between Russia and Qatar in the field of defense, including the supply of military equipment, training of officers and soldiers, maintenance of machinery and, of course, cooperation through special services," Attiyah said.

The ambassador also said that "very soon a Qatari military attaché will appear in Russia and a Russian military attaché in Doha."

The S-400 system, which was introduced in 2007, is the new generation of Russian missile systems, and so far Russia has only sold them to China and India.

Russia also signed a more than $2 billion deal with Turkey for the delivery of two S-400 defense systems.

According to Moscow, some 10 countries from the Middle East and Southeast Asia are in negotiations to buy the air defense systems.