ANKARA – Washington’s latest proposal to Turkey comes amid threats by USlawmakers to introduce sanctions against Russia if it sells its S-400Triumf mobile surface-to-air missile systems to other countries.

US State Department acting assistant secretary of statefor political-military affairs Tina Kaidanow is expected to travelto Turkey next week to offer Ankara the US Patriot surface-to-air missilesystem, Turkey’s Sabah newspaper has reportedlink>.

Kaidanow is expected to arrive in Ankara on March 31. A high-level USsource told the newspaper that Washington envisions its Patriot offer as analternative to the Russian S-400.

According to the source, the Trump administration has high hopesover Kaidanow visit, with Washington seeing arms sales as a componentof its foreign policy.

Russia and Turkey reached a $2.5 billion agreement on the sale of S-400sin 2017, with the first batch expected to be shipped in late 2019.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu explained the purchase earlierthis month, saying that Turkey has an urgent need for new air defensesystems because its existing defenses are hopelessly obsolete.

Washington has launched an increasingly forceful campaign to tryto pressure its Turkish ally over the decision to buy the Russian system,warning that Ankara may face ‘consequences’ if deliveries go ahead. TheTurkish government warned that it would respond to any possible USsanctions over the decision.