Russia warns of Cuba, Venezuela deployment if tensions mount

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV and EMILY SCHULTHEIS
Associated Press

MOSCOW (AP) — A senior Russian diplomat says 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 NATO-Russia 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 Thursday, Ryabkov noted that “it all depends on the action by our U.S. counterparts.”