The Russian leadership, from President Vladimir Putin on down, has warned that if the U.S. keeps turning up the military pressure on Russia, then Moscow will be forced to take “military-technical” measures in response. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov, during an interview with RTVI yesterday, gave an indication of what some of those measures might be when the interviewer asked him whether Russia is considering deploying its military in such countries as Venezuela or Cuba. “I don’t want to confirm anything, but I won’t rule anything out either,” he said when asked about the possibility, reported TASS. “The President of Russia has spoken multiple times on the subject of what the measures could be, for example involving the Russian Navy, if things are firmly set on the course of provoking Russia and further increasing the military pressure on us by the U.S.,” Ryabkov said. “We don’t want that. The diplomats must come to an agreement.”
Ryabkov also commented on other aspects of the problem. He reported that time placed limits on what could be discussed in Geneva on Jan. 10. “We had quite an intense agenda in Geneva. And there was no way that something else could be built in there, we had to keep up with the schedule. For example, U.S.-Russia bilateral issues were not discussed at all. Although there is a wide range of issues, and they multiply, they do not go anywhere, they must be dealt with, but there simply was no time,” he said.
