Russia raises the stakes in its dispute with the West over Ukraine and NATO's expansion when a top diplomat refuses to rule out a military deployment to Cuba and Venezuela if tensions with the U.S. escalate.
The first round of crisis talks between Russia and the U.S. over Ukraine and NATO expansion ended with little progress on Monday. More meetings are scheduled this week.MOSCOW -- Russia raised the stakes Thursday in its dispute with the West over Ukraine and NATO's expansion when a top diplomat refused to rule out a military deployment to Cuba and Venezuela if tensions with the United States escalate.
Ryabkov led a Russian delegation in talks with the U.S. on Monday. The negotiations in Geneva and a related NATO-Russia meeting in Brussels took place in response to a significant Russian troop buildup near Ukraine that the West fears might be a prelude to an invasion. “We stuck to our core premise of reciprocity," the national security adviser said. “We were firm in our principles and clear about those areas where we can make progress and those areas that are non-starter."
He noted that the issue wasn’t raised during this week’s talks and added that “if Russia were to move in that direction, we would deal with it decisively.” Soon after his first election in 2000, Putin ordered the closure of a Soviet-built military surveillance facility in Cuba as he sought to improve ties with Washington. Moscow has intensified contacts with Cuba in recent years as tensions with the U.S. and its allies mounted.
Ryabkov described U.S. and NATO military deployments and drills near Russia's territory as extremely destabilizing. He said U.S. nuclear-capable strategic bombers flew just 15 kilometers from Russia's border. Peskov said this week's talks produced “some positive elements and nuances,” but he characterized them as unsuccessful overall.
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