Russia alleges its security when asked about missiles in Cuba and Venezuela

The Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, avoided giving a clear answer to the possibility of Russia placing missiles in Cuba and Venezuela by assuring that Moscow is studying different variants to guarantee their security.

“In the context of the current situation, Russia is thinking about how to guarantee its own security,” he said at his press conference, commenting on the possibility suggested last week by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Riabkov, who did not deny or confirm that Moscow consider placing missiles in Cuba and Venezuela.

“Regarding Latin America, we cannot forget that we are talking about sovereign countries,” added Peskov.

He also recalled that the United States Undersecretary of State, Victoria Nuland, recently declared that Washington is assessing 18 different response variants in the event that Russia invades Ukraine.

“We also study various variants. We consider that in reality there should be much less, since for us it is an extremely concrete matter. It is not necessary to complicate what is possibly not so complicated. The questions were formulated in a direct and concrete way”, he added.

Riabkov told Russian international television channel RTVI last Thursday that the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) had said “no” to Russia’s demands for security guarantees and ruled out an early resumption of negotiations with the West.

When asked about the response measures of Moscow, did not rule out the deployment of military infrastructure in Cuba and Venezuela.

From Venezuela, opponents such as former deputies Olivia Lozano and Juan Guaidó strongly condemned this possibility.

Lozano assured that these statements demonstrate how the “dangerous alliances” developed by Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro have “endangered the principles of sovereignty, independence, self-determination of peoples and non-intervention, putting at risk the future of the next generations of Venezuelans”.

Guaidó also rejected Riabkov’s statements and stated that “Russia does not have to deploy any military force” on Venezuelan territory.

For his part, the national security adviser to US President Jake Sullivan warned that U.S It would respond “decisively” if Russia deploys missiles or military infrastructure in Venezuela or Cuba.

The US diplomat added that the issue was not discussed during talks between Washington and Moscow last week, and said it could be a “bragging” by Riabkov that should not be taken too seriously.

Meanwhile, Havana has remained silent on the statements of the Russian deputy foreign minister.