TR Air-Force TF-X KAAN Fighter Jet

[dBSPL]

The best solution would be to lend the four S-400 batteries to Azerbaijan (officially classified as a sale) and station them there permanently; should new developments arise in the Middle East or the Aegean that require a reassessment, the four batteries could be transferred back (repurchase).

The transport route is also considerably shorter; it would be operational again on Turkish soil within a day.

The idea of selling the S-400s to Azerbaijan with an option to buy them back later just does not work under US sanctions. The US Congress explicitly demands that Türkiye get rid of the ownership entirely and "irreversibly." On top of that, Russia’s "End-User Certificate" legally blocks transferring these batteries to any third country without Moscow's official green light. From a logistical standpoint, dismantling, moving, and setting up these massive systems takes weeks, making it technically impossible to bring them back to Türkiye within a single day during a crisis. So, this scenario neither provides the legal fix Washington is looking for nor aligns with military realities.

Besides, there is no need for such convoluted workarounds because it looks like both sides have already agreed on a technical solution behind the scenes. US Vice President JD Vance’s recent statement confirms this, noting that Türkiye has met certain technical requirements to comply with US laws, and the White House is now in the review and verification phase. This shows that Ankara and Washington have finalized a legally sound middle ground, which likely involves keeping the batteries locked away under NATO supervision or at Incirlik, and the administration is just doing a final check before presenting the deal to Congress.

As a final piece of speculation, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan’s recent meeting with Vladimir Putin raises the question of whether a direct return of the systems to Moscow could be a remote possibility. While this remains entirely unconfirmed, a total buy-back by Russia would serve as the ultimate way to resolve the ownership issue if the current technical tracks with Washington ever hit a dead end.