Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aide Vladimir Kozhin, has stated that Turkey’s application for a loan to buy S-400 surface-to-air missile system has not been approved yet.

The CEO of Rostec Corporation, Sergey Chemezov, had announced earlier this month that Ankara had asked a loan from Moscow in order for Turkey to buy the Russian missile system.

If the deal ultimately does go ahead, Turkey will be the first NATO country to buy the S-400 missiles from Russia.

The Turkish president Erdogan was asked if being a NATO member would make it difficult for such a deal to materialize. His response was, “being a member of NATO doesn’t mean we are not an independent country. We can be a NATO member and conduct business with Russia too. We do not agree with statements that express anything contrary to this,” the president said.