Amid stalled talks between Russia and NATO over what is effectively a novel split of Europe into geopolitical sphere of influence, Russia has decided to take the show on the road and demonstrate to the US what it feels like to be surrounded by military bases along your borders, and on Thursday, after saying talks with the U.S. over the security situation in Ukraine had stalled, Russia’s deputy foreign minister suggested that Moscow could dispatch a military deployment to Venezuela and Cuba, as the Kremlin seeks to pressure Washington to respond to its demands to halt Western military activity that it says threatens Russia.
Quoted by the WSJ, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that Moscow couldn’t exclude dispatching “military infrastructure” to Venezuela or Cuba if tensions with Washington, which have escalated in recent weeks over a huge buildup of Russian troops on Ukraine’s border prompting some to suggest that the odds of a war in Europe are now the highest in decades, continue to rise.
“I don’t want to confirm anything, I will not rule out anything…Depends on the actions of our American colleagues,”Ryabkov told privately owned Russian-language television network RTVi in an interview Thursday in Moscow.
Vladimir Putin “has repeatedly spoken out, including on this topic, about what could be the measures taken by the Russian navy if things go completely in the direction of provoking Russia and further increasing military pressure on us,” Rybakov said,adding that Russia didn’t want to see that outcome, but “the diplomats must come to an agreement."
Last month, Ryabkov also told reporters that he couldn’t exclude the possibility that relations between Russia and the U.S. could end up in a situation similar to the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.
He also told the Russian TV station that he sees no immediate grounds for fresh talks with the U.S., after several rounds of negotiations this week yielded little progress in defusing the crisis in Ukraine.
On Thursday, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, a 57-country grouping that helped to foster peace during the Cold War, discussed the Ukraine situation. The talks followed a U.S.-Russia meeting in Geneva on Monday and a NATO-Russia gathering in Brussels Wednesday. However, those talks also failed to resolve the crisis and the prospects for more talks have remained uncertain. Ukraine was the focus of the talks this week but wasn’t present at the negotiations in Geneva or Brussels. Thursday’s meeting in Vienna gave Kyiv a seat at the table
On Thursday, Rybakov appeared to rule out further negotiations, if Russia’s demands aren’t met.
“I am always a supporter of dialogue,” Ryabkov told RTVi, but cautioned that if negotiations end with NATO’s refusal to stop expanding this would be “to a certain extent, a dead end or a difference in approaches. I see no reason to sit down in the coming days, to gather again and start these same discussions,” he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment