Home › Security › When Washington sanctioned a NATO ally over S-400s
When Washington sanctioned a NATO ally over S-400s
Summary
A look back at the US decision to use CAATSA against Turkey over its purchase of Russian air defence.
What did it mean when the United States turned a Russia-focused sanctions law on an ally? On 14 December 2020, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that Washington had imposed sanctions on Turkey over its acquisition of the S-400 missile defence system from Russia.
As reported at the time, it was the first occasion on which the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, known as CAATSA, had been used to penalise a US ally.
The law behind the move
CAATSA is a federal law that imposed sanctions on Iran, North Korea and Russia. It works by preventing US companies from doing business with sanctioned entities. The Senate passed it on 27 July 2017 by 98 votes to 2, after the House approved it 419 to 3. President Donald Trump signed it on 2 August 2017, though he believed the legislation was seriously flawed.
Why it mattered for the region
The announcement tied a Russian weapons sale to a penalty imposed on a country that was not among the law's three named targets. The sanctions concerned Turkey's S-400 purchase from Russia, and the decision showed that the act could be applied beyond those countries.
