By Vladimir Isachenkov and Emily Schultheis — AP, Thursday 13 January 2022
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia on Thursday sharply raised the stakes in its dispute with the West over Ukraine, with a top diplomat refusing to rule out a Russian military deployment to Cuba and Venezuela if tensions with the United States mount. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said he could “neither confirm nor exclude” the possibility of Russia sending military assets to Cuba and Venezuela if talks fail and US pressure on Russia mounts. His comment followed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s warning that Moscow could take military-technical measures if the US provokes the Kremlin.
The Russia-US negotiations in Geneva and a subsequent NATO-Russia meeting failed to narrow the gap on Moscow’s security demands amid a buildup of Russian troops near Ukraine. While Moscow demanded a halt to NATO expansion, Washington and its allies firmly rejected that as a nonstarter. An estimated 100,000 Russian troops with tanks and other heavy weapons are massed near Ukraine’s eastern border. Russia has dismissed concerns that it was preparing for an invasion and in turn accused the West of threatening its security.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the week’s talks as “unsuccessful” even though he noted “some positive elements and nuances.” Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau, assuming the position of OSCE Chairman-in-Office, noted in his opening speech that “the risk of war in the OSCE area is now greater than ever before in the last 30 years.” The EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, reiterated that “any further aggression against Ukraine will have massive consequences and severe costs for Russia.”