Strained US-Russian Relations Continue as Bombers Land in Venezuela
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Earlier this month, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro visited Moscow as an attempt to strengthen good ties between the two countries, and possibly due to the billions of dollars of debt Venezuela owes to Russia. The latter is clearly a strong political ally of the former. This relationship was further emphasized, when on Monday the Russian Defence Ministry announced that the following planes were sent to the Maiquetia airport near Caracas: two Tu-160 supersonic bombers, An-124 Ruslan heavy lift cargo plane, and one Il-62 passenger plane.
The point of contention came from the deployment of the two bombers. The Tu-160 can be equipped with nuclear or conventional missiles, with ranges that go as far as 3,410 miles. They are also capable of flying 7,500 miles without any need for any refuelling. United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo took to Twitter and aired his grievances. His exact quote reads:
“The Russian and Venezuelan people should see this for what it is: two corrupt governments squandering public funds and squelching liberty and freedom while their people suffer.”
The Pentagon also shared its opinion on the matter, by highlighting the differences in the US response to Venezuela’s problems in comparison to Russia. They brought up the USNS Comfort, a navy hospital ship deployed for 11 weeks (starting Oct 11th) to provide medical assistance to Central and South American countries to help relieve the strain placed on their medical systems in light of Venezuelans migrating to escape the dire situation of the country. Col. Rob Manning then brought up Russia, and criticised them for sending bombers instead of humanitarian aid.
Both Venezuela and Russia are sticking to their guns on the matter and have fired back at the US with their own comments. Jorge Arreaza, Foreign Minister of Venezuela, said on Twitter that Pompeo’s reaction is both disrespectful and reeks of irony in light of all the military bases the US has established overseas. Arreaza also said that Venezuela should be allowed to develop its defence without scrutiny especially due to the threats of military intervention made by US President Trump.
The Kremlin also made its stance clear through Dmitry Peskov who is the spokesman for Russian President Putin. He dubbed Pompeo’s statements as ‘undiplomatic’ and ‘inappropriate’ in nature. On Tuesday, he shared with reporters that such criticisms did not give the US any moral high ground when half their military budget would be enough to feed the entire continent of Africa.