The Russians, who have said a deal is close, are trying to poison Turkey’s relations with the United States by releasing misleading statements, a senior Turkish official said, according to the Middle East Eye.

On Monday, the head of Russia's Rosoboronexport arms exporter told the state-run Interfax news agency that Turkey and Russia are close to signing a new contract for additional S-400s.

Russia is attempting to manage a perception operation and there has been no change in the status of the negotiations, the Turkish official said.

Turkey’s acquisition of Russian S-400 defense system has dogged relations with the United States. The U.S. government says the Russian weapons may threaten NATO technology and the purchase is inconsistent with Turkey's commitments as a NATO ally.

The United States has excluded Turkey from a program to buy F-35 stealth fighter jets and imposed sanctions on its defense procurement agency in response to its $2.5 billion acquisition of the Russian missiles in 2019. It has threatened further measures should the system be activated.

U.S. President Joe Biden and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan failed to agree on a solution to the S-400 issue during their first face-to-face meeting on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Brussels in June.

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