Russian forces for Cuba, Venezuela
Moscow, Jan. 13: A senior Russian diplomat warned on Thursday that a Russian military deployment to Cuba and Venezuela can’t be excluded if tensions with the United States mount.
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, who led the Russian delegation in Monday’s talks in Geneva, said in remarks televised Thursday that he would neither confirm nor exclude the possibility that Russia could put its military infrastructure in Cuba and Venezuela. The negotiations in Geneva and Wednesday’s NatoRussia meeting in Vienna failed to narrow the gap on Moscow's security demands amid a buildup of Russian troops near Ukraine.
Speaking in an interview with Russian RTVI TV broadcast, Ryabkov noted that it all depends on the action by our US counterparts, noting that Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that Russia could take military-technical measures if the US acts to provoke Russia and raise military pressure on it.
Ryabkov said that the US and Nato have rejected the key Russian demand for guarantees precluding the alliance’s expansion to Ukraine and other exSoviet nations, adding that the stark difference in approaches raises doubts about the possibility of continuing the talks.
The Kremlin on Thursday said it deplored the lack of
progress in talks on Moscow’s demand for security guarantees against Nato’s eastward expansion and strongly rebuffed Western calls for a pullback of Russian troops from areas near Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also warned of a complete rupture US-Russian relations if proposed sanctions targeting Russian President Vladimir Putin and other top civilian and military leaders are adopted. The measures, proposed by Senate Democrats, would also target leading leading Russian financial institutions if Moscow sends troops into Ukraine.
Russia and the West took uncompromising stands during the talks this week to discuss the tensions over Ukraine. While Moscow demanded a halt to Nato expansion, Washington and its allies firmly rejected them as a nonstarter. Monday’s Russia-US talks in Geneva and Wednesday's Russia-Nato meeting in Brussels failed to narrow the gap, although the parties left the possibility open for future talks on arms control and ways to prevent military incidents. —