As Ukraine tensions mount, US vows ‘decisive’ response if Russia deploys to Cuba, Venezuela
- Moscow raises the stakes in its dispute with the West over Ukraine and Nato’s expansion on Russia’s doorstep
- US official calls Russia threat of troops in Latin America ‘bluster’, but vows response if it follows through
The Biden administration responded to threats from Russian officials that Moscow could begin military deployments in Cuba and Venezuela if tensions continue to rise with the United States, vowing a “decisive” response if it sees any evidence that the threat is real.
Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told state television on Thursday that he could “neither confirm nor exclude” the potential deployments.
Russian media followed up on the remarks with a report that agents from Russia’s spy agency, the FSB, had visited the two Western Hemisphere countries in recent days.
“We are not going to respond to bluster,” a senior administration official told McClatchy and The Miami Herald. “If Russia actually started moving in that direction, we would deal with it decisively.”