Russia’s warning to US
MOSCOW: Russia has warned it could deploy military infrastructure to within striking distance of the US if NATO does not pledge to halt its eastwards expansion.
When asked if Moscow would expand its military capabilities to Cuba or Venezuela in the event of talks with Washington breaking down, Sergei Ryabkov, the deputy foreign minister, refused to rule it out.
“I don’t want to confirm anything or exclude anything,” he told RTVI television.
“It depends on the steps of our American counterparts.”
Ryabkov did not specify what equipment might be sent to Latin America but said any response could involve naval forces.
Moscow has good relations with Venezuela and Cuba.
Last month, Russia demanded that NATO stop accepting new members and withdraw its forces from central and eastern European countries that joined the alliance after 1997.
If it agreed, NATO would have to pull troops out of Poland, Romania and the Baltic states.
The Kremlin wants NATO to rule out future membership for Ukraine and Georgia, both former Soviet states.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the deployment of US missiles to Ukraine would be a serious national security threat.
Russia has amassed about 100,000 troops near Ukraine’s borders to back up its demands, but insists it is not planning an invasion.
The Kremlin annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, and has provided military support to pro-Russian separatists in Donbas, in the east.
Talks this week between
US, NATO and Russian officials on Moscow’s demands ended without a breakthrough.
NATO said it would not allow Russia to dictate its policies, while Russia said it was not willing to compromise.
Jens Stoltenberg, NATO secretary-general, warned there was “a real risk of a new armed conflict in Europe”.
Rybakov said the talks had essentially reached a “dead end”.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavro accused the West of taking an “arrogant, unyielding and uncompromising” stance, but said there was still some hope of a breakthrough.
Alexander Lukashevich, Russia’s envoy to the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, said Moscow would be forced to “eliminate unacceptable threats to its national security” if NATO refused to agree to withdraw its forces from central and eastern Europe.
Moscow has compared the deployment of US missiles to Russia’s borders to the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, which brought the world to the brink of nuclear war.
Ryabkov portrayed Russia as increasingly surrounded by hostile states: “We have nowhere to retreat to”.
When asked about the prospect of a deal with NATO, he replied with a popular Russian saying: “Hope always dies last”.
The US does not believe Russia has decided to invade Ukraine but is “ready either way”, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said
“We’re ready to make progress at the negotiating table … and we’re ready to take the necessary and proper steps to defend our allies, support our partners and respond robustly to any naked aggression that might occur,” he said.