Talking about Russian military bases in Cuba and Venezuela is wrong: Medvedev

The former president of Russia Dmitry Medvedev warned that it is not correct to speak of the possibility of locating Russian military bases in Cuba and Venezuelabecause these types of statements cause great tension, in an interview advanced this Thursday by local media.

(Read here: Russia contemplates sending troops to Cuba and Venezuela in the face of tension with the West)

“I consider that it is not very correct to talk about this issue (the possible location of Russian bases in Cuba and Venezuela), because as a rule this causes a very significant tension, at least in the economic field,” said Medvedev, current vice president of the Russian Security Council.

(In Context: Russia’s Reasons for Considering Putting Missiles in Cuba and Venezuela)

He added that the installation of military bases in other states “depends on the sovereign decisions of those countries.”

“Indeed, we have certain agreements with some states about the presence of our troops there, such as in Syria and other countries,” Medvedev said, quoted by the official news agency. TASSwho specified that the full text of the interview will be published this Friday.

At the same time, who was president of Russia between 2008 and 2012 stressed that “we must not get ahead of ourselves” and say that Moscow wants to set up bases or that it has already reached agreements for that purpose.

“It’s totally wrong. This causes tension in the world,” he insisted. He added that Cuba and Venezuela are countries close to Russia that have an independent foreign policy.

“We cannot place anything there (…) simply because it must correspond to its geopolitical position, with its national interests,” he said.

In this sense, he stressed that Cuba and Venezuela “are trying to overcome their isolation and, to a certain extent, reestablish normal relations with the United States.”

For this reason, he added, “one cannot speak of installing a base as in the Soviet period, when with a whole series of countries they had a united military infrastructure, based on the same ideology.”

In recent days, Russian media have pointed out the possibility that Russia will set up military bases in Cuba and Venezuela in response to a refusal by the United States and NATO to meet the demands for security guarantees presented by Moscow, an eventuality that Russian diplomacy has avoided commenting on. .

(Also read: US and NATO reject Russia’s demands on Ukraine, what comes next?)

The security guarantees demanded by Russia include curbing the further expansion of the Alliance, in particular to Ukraine and Georgia, the cessation of all military cooperation with the former Soviet republics and the withdrawal of NATO troops and weapons from positions they occupied before 1997.

Washington and NATO formally responded on Wednesday to Russia’s demands. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that his country and NATO will not give up the Alliance’s “open door” policy, but reiterated that Washington is willing to talk with Russia about control of
weapons or transparency in military exercises.

He warned that in the event of an attack on Ukrainealong whose borders Russia accumulates more than 100,000 soldiers, Washington is “ready” to impose sanctions on Moscow that would have “serious consequences.”

Russia will now take a hard look at the US and NATO responses, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexandr Grushkó announced yesterday. “We will read them, we will study them. The partners studied our proposals for almost a month,” Gruskó told the Interfax agency when asked when Moscow plans to respond to the US and NATO.

EFE

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