Qatar and Russia are exchanging military delegations for training and gathering information, but there is no progress on the issue of supplying S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems to Doha. This was announced on June 9 by the Qatari Ambassador to Russia, Sheikh Ahmed bin Nasser Al Thani.
According to him, military cooperation between the states remains, RIA Novosti notes. "For Qatar, Russia is a strategic partner in all areas, and we have excellent relations with the Russian Defense Ministry," the senior diplomat said.
The question of the supply of S-400s to Qatar is being raised, but there is no progress in this, he added.
In February 2019, it was reported that Moscow was negotiating with Doha on the supply of S-400 Triumph air defense systems. A year earlier, the Saudi authorities threatened Qatar with force in the case of purchases of S-400 and asked France to intervene in the situation.
In July 2018, the Russian Ambassador to Qatar, Nurmakhmad Kholov, reported that Moscow and Doha were discussing this issue, but without "any specific outlines".
The S-400 complex was bought from Russia by three states-China, Turkey and India. The first deliveries of anti-aircraft missile systems to India will take place in October–December 2021. In October 2018, Moscow and Delhi signed a contract for the supply of complexes, five regiments of the latest air defense systems will cost New Delhi $5.43 billion (more than 3 trillion rubles). This transaction was called the largest in the history of Rosoboronexport.
Deliveries of Russian S-400 air defense systems to Turkey began in mid-June 2019, which led to a crisis in relations between Ankara and Washington. In April, the United States officially notified Turkey of the country's exclusion from the fifth-generation F-35 fighter production program.
The S-400 Triumph anti-aircraft missile system can destroy modern air attack targets, including ballistic missiles. The detection range is up to 600 km, the radius of the cover zone is 400 km.