Article Posted on : - Oct 03, 2018

The S-400 long-range surface-to-air missile system.

MOSCOW (AFP): Russian President Vladimir Putin will oversee the signing of a US$ 5 billion deal this week to supply Delhi with S-400 air defence systems, a top Kremlin aide has said ahead of Putin's trip to India.

"The President is leaving for India on October 4," Putin's top foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov told reporters on Tuesday.

"The key feature of this visit will be the signing of the agreement to deliver S-400 air defence systems," he said. "The value of the contract will be more than US$ 5 billion."

Moscow has been negotiating to sell the S-400 long-range surface-to-air missiles to India for months.

The sale has irked India's defence partner Washington, which has wanted to wean India off Russian technology, and a senior Pentagon official said in August that sanctions against India would come under consideration if its purchase goes through.

India has signalled it will ask Washington for a special waiver from sanctions, though a US official last week said there is no guarantee it would do so.