Russia's Arms Deliveries to Venezuela Do Not Affect Balance of Forces in Region - Moscow

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Deliveries of Russian military equipment to Venezuela do not destroy the balance of forces in the region, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said.

"No deliveries of Russian military equipment to Venezuela have ever created changes in the balance of forces in the region," Ryabkov said in an interview with the Spanish newspaper El Pais.

The diplomat stressed that Russia always remains a responsible supplier of weaponry to Venezuela in the framework of bilateral military-technical cooperation.

A serious political crisis has rocked Venezuela in January when US-backed opposition leader and head of the National Assembly Juan Guaido proclaimed himself interim president in a bid to replace incumbent president, Nicolas Maduro.

The United States and its allies, including a number of EU nations, immediately recognised Guaido, while Russia, China, Cuba, Bolivia, Turkey among others voiced their support for Maduro as the country’s only legitimate president.

In April, the Russian Embassy in Venezuela said that Russian military specialists were in the country to train technicians and work on repair and maintenance of weapons systems, which were previously sent to Venezuela under bilateral defence industry cooperation agreements. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in turn, said that the presence of Russian military experts in Venezuela was completely legitimate.

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