"Act in personal interests": the United States threatened Russia with new sanctions because of Venezuela

Russia should not proceed from the fact that it has complete freedom of action in Venezuela, said the White House special representative for the Bolivarian Republic, Elliott Abrams.

According to him, Moscow should be aware of the possibility of sanctions from Washington in the Venezuelan direction.

"For the Russians, it would be a mistake to think that they have complete freedom of action, this is not so," Abrams said during a press briefing.

The representative of the State Department clarified that the United States has several options for action, noting that we are talking about diplomatic measures.

“There are things that we can do in terms of the economy and sanctions,” Abrams added, refusing to talk about this in more detail.

During the meeting, the journalists also raised the topic of the presence of military specialists from Russia in Caracas, asking for what purpose, according to Abrams, this visit took place.

“One of their activities, as it seems to us - and we thought so from the very beginning - is assistance with the S-300 air defense missile systems, whose work was probably disrupted during the blackout,” said Abrams.

“What else do they do?” We are seeing, ”added the State Department official.

Earlier, National Security Adviser to the White House, John Bolton, said that the United States would consider the deployment of military forces in Venezuela outside the Western Hemisphere to be a threat.

“We strongly caution players outside the Western Hemisphere from deploying military assets in Venezuela or somewhere else within the hemisphere to launch or expand military operations. We will consider such provocative actions a direct threat to international peace and security in the region, ”said Bolton’s statement, which the White House distributed.

The document says that Washington condemns the continued use of Caracas by foreign military personnel, including Russian military specialists and equipment.

At the same time, Russia does not intend to intervene in the affairs of Venezuela and calls for this to be done by other states, Yury Shvytkin, deputy chairman of the State Duma’s defense committee, said in an interview with RT.

“It must be remembered that what is happening in Venezuela is the fruit of US activity. The United States, with its intervention, wants to make Venezuela its appendage. The United States acts only in its own personal interests, regardless of the interests of other states, ”said the parliamentarian.

In turn, the director of the Franklin Roosevelt Foundation for the Study of the United States (MSU), Yuri Rogulev, noted that the sovereignty of Venezuela is equal to the sovereignty of the United States and Russia, so all parties have complete freedom of action.

“Another thing is that such threats and such behavior, of course, give a strong imperialistic bias when they try to command and impose actions on other countries that in one way or another go against American policy,” said the expert in an interview with RT.

He added that he did not rule out the use of new sanctions by the United States because of Washington’s claims on Moscow over Venezuela.

"Commitment to the course of deepening interaction"

Recall, on March 24, Russian media reported on the arrival in Caracas of two Russian aircraft with a group of military specialists for bilateral consultations. After these events, American officials repeatedly spoke out against the presence of specialists from Russia in Venezuela.

So, on March 24, US President Donald Trump said that Russia should leave Venezuela and for the realization of this scenario, “all options” are being considered. In response, the Russian Foreign Ministry stressed that military personnel from Russia will be in Venezuela as long as it is necessary, noting that such actions are enshrined in bilateral agreements.

March 29 in Venezuela, the opening ceremony of the training and helicopter training center, created with the participation of Russian and Venezuelan experts.

“A modern helicopter training center was built under the contract of Rosoboronexport JSC with the Venezuelan military industry joint-stock company (CAVIM),” RIA Novosti reports Rosoboronexport.

The center has opportunities for training in the use and use of the Mi-17V-5, Mi-35M and Mi-26T helicopters in conditions as close as possible to reality, simulating various non-standard situations that may arise in flight, the company said.

“Rosoboronexport and other Russian organizations participating in the Russian-Venezuelan military-technical cooperation remain committed to the deepening of cooperation with the Ministry of Defense and other Venezuelan government departments,” the company said.

From the Rosoboronexport report, Venezuela since 2005 has been Russia's largest Latin American partner in the field of military-technical cooperation. The company clarified that “a significant amount of Russian weapons and military equipment” was delivered to the country.

“Including Su-30MK2 multifunctional fighters, Mi-brand combat and transport helicopters, tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, missile and artillery weapons, modern anti-aircraft weapons, Kalashnikov assault rifles of the 100th series,” the company said.

"Rosoboronexport" noted that the supply of arms allowed the country in the shortest possible time "to acquire serious potential, reliably ensuring national security and defense."

It is noted that Russian helicopters in Venezuela are involved in operations against smugglers, as well as are involved in reconnaissance of forest fires, rescue and evacuation activities in disaster zones. Machines from Russia also deliver humanitarian supplies to remote areas of Venezuela.