Moscow officials have described the presence of specialists in Venezuela as part of a "military-technical cooperation" between the two nations. Their counterparts in Washington suspect that Russia was preparing the S-300 surface-to-air defense system to potential combat at a time when arms control treaties between the world's top two military powers were failing.
But it is what happened toward the end of March that sent heads spinning in Washington. Two planeloads of roughly 100 Russian military personnel landed in Venezuela. The stated reason for their arrival was to help service Venezuela’s Russian-purchased S-300 air defense systems, which may have been damaged amid the country’s increasingly frequent blackouts. The news followed earlier reports of Russian mercenaries or private military contractors already operating as security for the embattled regime.
Even Bolton, a notorious hawk, is now curbing his enthusiasm. “I can tell you there’s a lot going on beneath the surface. The opposition is in constant contact with large numbers of admirals and other supporters within the Maduro administration,” he told Reuters last week, suggesting that Maduro’s hold on power wasn’t as strong as it seemed. But victory wasn’t on the horizon yet.
In a statement released Monday, Rostec State Corporation said that "a modern helicopter training center was opened" under a contract between Moscow-based Rosoboronexport and Caracas's state-run CAVIM firearms manufacturer. The center was inaugurated Thursday, the same day that President Donald Trump warned that "Russia has to get out of" Venezuela and "all options are open" in ensuring it does.
Mr. Burns agreed with what he called Mr. Obama’s “long game’ calculus,” which included “having the discipline to avoid getting sucked into another military entanglement in the Middle East, which would likely only underscore the limits of our influence in a world of predators for whom Syria’s battles were existential.”
But it is what happened toward the end of March that sent heads spinning in Washington. Two planeloads of roughly 100 Russian military personnel landed in Venezuela. The stated reason for their arrival was to help service Venezuela’s Russian-purchased S-300 air defense systems, which may have been damaged amid the country’s increasingly frequent blackouts. The news followed earlier reports of Russian mercenaries or private military contractors already operating as security for the embattled regime.
Even Bolton, a notorious hawk, is now curbing his enthusiasm. “I can tell you there’s a lot going on beneath the surface. The opposition is in constant contact with large numbers of admirals and other supporters within the Maduro administration,” he told Reuters last week, suggesting that Maduro’s hold on power wasn’t as strong as it seemed. But victory wasn’t on the horizon yet.
In a statement released Monday, Rostec State Corporation said that "a modern helicopter training center was opened" under a contract between Moscow-based Rosoboronexport and Caracas's state-run CAVIM firearms manufacturer. The center was inaugurated Thursday, the same day that President Donald Trump warned that "Russia has to get out of" Venezuela and "all options are open" in ensuring it does.
Mr. Burns agreed with what he called Mr. Obama’s “long game’ calculus,” which included “having the discipline to avoid getting sucked into another military entanglement in the Middle East, which would likely only underscore the limits of our influence in a world of predators for whom Syria’s battles were existential.”
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