A deal for the supply of Russia’s advanced S-400 surface-to-air missile system to Turkey has been signed, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters on September 11.

“A deposit has already been paid, as far as I know. But officials are still working on the loan issue,” Hurriyet Daily News quoted Erdogan as saying.

He dismissed media reports that Turkey would shelve plans to buy the Russian missile system because it is not compatible with Nato’s infrastructure.

“Both [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and myself, we are determined on this issue,” Erdogan said, according to the newspaper.

No other country has the right to discuss Turkey’s sovereign and independent decisions in upgrading its defence system, he added.

On a separate note, Russia's Agriculture Ministry and Russia's agriculture safety watchdog are considering partially resuming tomato imports from Turkey in October, Reuters reported on September 11, citing Russian daily Kommersant.

The supplies may start in October and continue until April or May next year. Turkey may supply between 100,000 tonnes and 300,000 tonnes of tomatoes to Russia until next summer, but the Russian government is yet to reach an agreement on the issue, sources told the Russian newspaper.

The ban first arose when Moscow imposed a raft of economic sanctions against Ankara after the Turkish air force downed a Russian fighter-bomber near the Syrian border in November 2015.

However, following a rapprochement process, initiated by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last year, Russia lifted most of the sanctions.