Russia, Venezuela war games

2008-09-08 20:07

Vladimir Isachenkov

Moscow - Russia said on Monday it will send a naval squadron and anti-submarine patrol planes to Venezuela this year for a joint exercise with its naval forces, a deployment that comes amid increasingly tense relations with the United States.

Russia's decision to send the squadron and planes to Venezuela was made before Russia's war with Georgia last month, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Andrei Nesterenko said.

"This deployment had been planned in advance, and it's unrelated to the current political situation and the developments in the Caucasus," Nesterenko said at a briefing.

But the announcement was made just a week after Prime Minister Vladimir Putin warned that Russia would mount an unspecified response to recent US aid shipments to Georgia.

Nesterenko said the Peter the Great missile cruiser and three other Russian navy ships would visit Venezuela before the year's end, and would be joined by a unit of long-range anti-submarine patrol aircraft.

He did not say how many planes would be sent, but said they would be "temporarily based at one of Venezuela's air bases".

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez had announced the manoeuvres in his Sunday television and radio programme, saying the Russian vessels would call on Venezuelan ports in late November or December.

Chavez warns of US Navy threat

Chavez, who has cultivated close ties with Moscow and placed big orders for Russian jets, helicopters and other weapons, has repeatedly warned that the US Navy poses a threat to Venezuela.

Nesterenko said the joint exercise would not be directed against any third country.

Russia has been angered, however, over the recent deployment of US Navy ships to the Black Sea to deliver humanitarian aid to Georgia, which was ravaged by a five-day war with Russia last month.

Russian officials said past US military assistance for Georgia had encouraged the Caucasus country to launch its offensive in South Ossetia, and argued that the new shipments could be a cover for weapons deliveries.

US officials have dismissed those accusations, saying the ships are carrying only humanitarian supplies such as blankets and powered milk.

Putin last week warned that Russia would respond to the US aid shipments to Georgia, but he did not say how.

"We don't understand what American ships are doing on the Georgian shores, but this is a question of taste, it's a decision by our American colleagues," Putin said.

"The second question is why the humanitarian aid is being delivered on naval vessels armed with the newest rocket systems."

Russia's reaction to the US deployment to the Black Sea "will be calm, without any sort of hysteria. But of course, there will be an answer", Putin said.

- AP