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Venezuela to Host Russian Anti-Sub Fighter
Alalam News Network, Iran - 11 minutes ago
MOSCOW, Sept 8--Russia plans temporarily to base anti-submarine aircraft in Venezuela before year-end, a foreign ministry spokesman said Monday amid tensions over the presence of NATO ships near Russia's Black Sea coast.
"Before the end of the year, as part of a long-distance expedition, we plan a visit to Venezuela by a Russian navy flotilla... and the temporary basing of anti-submarine aircraft of the Russian Navy at an airport in Venezuela," spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said.
The Venezuelan navy announced Saturday that four Russian ships with almost 1,000 sailors aboard would carry out joint maneuvers with the navy of Caracas' leftist government in Venezuelan territorial waters on November 10-14.
The four ships will include the Peter the Great nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser and the Admiral Chabanenko anti-submarine ship, Nesterenko told a briefing in Moscow.
The visit has been planned for a long time and "is not in any way connected to the current situation in the Caucasus," said Nesterenko, referring to tensions over Russia's incursion into US ally Georgia in August.
"It is not aimed at any third country," he said.
Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev accused the United States of rearming Georgia under the guise of humanitarian aid, after Friday's arrival of the US Navy's Mediterranean flagship at a key Georgian port close to where Russian troops are patrolling.
"I wonder how they would like it if we sent humanitarian assistance using our navy to countries of the Caribbean that have suffered from the recent hurricanes," Medvedev said.
Leftist-populist President Hugo Chavez, a harsh critic of the US government, has forged closer ties with Moscow including arms supply and production deals.
Chavez has supported Moscow in the Georgia conflict, and stressed that "Russia is rising up again as a global power."
Russia's defense ministry in July denied a report it was considering basing bomber aircraft in Cuba in retaliation for US missile defense plans in Eastern Europe.
"We regard these sorts of reports from anonymous sources as disinformation," RIA Novosti quoted defense ministry spokesman Ilshat Baichurin as saying
Venezuela to Host Russian Anti-Sub Fighter
Alalam News Network, Iran - 11 minutes ago
MOSCOW, Sept 8--Russia plans temporarily to base anti-submarine aircraft in Venezuela before year-end, a foreign ministry spokesman said Monday amid tensions over the presence of NATO ships near Russia's Black Sea coast.
"Before the end of the year, as part of a long-distance expedition, we plan a visit to Venezuela by a Russian navy flotilla... and the temporary basing of anti-submarine aircraft of the Russian Navy at an airport in Venezuela," spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said.
The Venezuelan navy announced Saturday that four Russian ships with almost 1,000 sailors aboard would carry out joint maneuvers with the navy of Caracas' leftist government in Venezuelan territorial waters on November 10-14.
The four ships will include the Peter the Great nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser and the Admiral Chabanenko anti-submarine ship, Nesterenko told a briefing in Moscow.
The visit has been planned for a long time and "is not in any way connected to the current situation in the Caucasus," said Nesterenko, referring to tensions over Russia's incursion into US ally Georgia in August.
"It is not aimed at any third country," he said.
Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev accused the United States of rearming Georgia under the guise of humanitarian aid, after Friday's arrival of the US Navy's Mediterranean flagship at a key Georgian port close to where Russian troops are patrolling.
"I wonder how they would like it if we sent humanitarian assistance using our navy to countries of the Caribbean that have suffered from the recent hurricanes," Medvedev said.
Leftist-populist President Hugo Chavez, a harsh critic of the US government, has forged closer ties with Moscow including arms supply and production deals.
Chavez has supported Moscow in the Georgia conflict, and stressed that "Russia is rising up again as a global power."
Russia's defense ministry in July denied a report it was considering basing bomber aircraft in Cuba in retaliation for US missile defense plans in Eastern Europe.
"We regard these sorts of reports from anonymous sources as disinformation," RIA Novosti quoted defense ministry spokesman Ilshat Baichurin as saying