Russia admitted on Sunday that it had been in contact with Venezuela when asked about reports of a possible request for help from the country’s leader, Nicolás Maduro, to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
«We are in contact with our Venezuelan friends,» said Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov to the TASS news agency. According to The Washington Post, Maduro has asked Russia, China, and Iran for help in strengthening the country’s defense against pressure from the US.
Peskov, who did not directly mention Maduro’s alleged request, stressed, however, that Russia and Venezuela are bound by «contractual obligations.» The two countries signed a strategic partnership agreement last May during Maduro’s visit to Moscow. This week, the Kremlin reiterated its support for Venezuela in the face of «existing and potential» threats from the US.
Several reports published on Friday suggest that the United States is further increasing its military deployment in the Caribbean and may even be planning attacks on targets in Venezuela, raising fears of an offensive by Washington against the Maduro government, despite Donald Trump himself denying this possibility.
According to defense journalists, the US will have eight warships, three amphibious ships, and one submarine in the area within a few days, with a total of thirteen naval personnel, its largest deployment since the first Gulf War (1990-1991), according to a study by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Going one step further were reports in the Miami Herald and The Wall Street Journal, which claimed, citing sources close to the Trump administration, that the United States is preparing to bomb military installations inside Venezuela at any moment. Maduro has repeatedly denounced Washington’s desire to oust him from power and has called on the US to abandon its military plans regarding Venezuela.
