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Russia has no military interests in Venezuela, says senior diplomat

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov added that occasionally, Russia has to send technical specialists to Venezuela

HELSINKI, July 10. /TASS/. Russia has no military interests in Venezuela, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on the outcomes of the talks with US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale.

"We do not have any military contingency in Venezuela. We do not have any resources in Venezuela in this sphere, which may be seen by anybody, be it the US or the Venezuelan neighbors, as a destabilizing factor. All that is done there is done within the framework of maintenance of the equipment delivered there under previously concluded contracts," he told reporters on the outcomes of the meeting.

The Russian diplomat added that occasionally, Russia has to send technical specialists to Venezuela. "It is simply wrong to monitor and report back with the information on who is there and who isn’t. It is ordinary work, and the Americans have to realize that we understand their desire to blow this fact out of proportion with political aims and to use it as a pretense to continue applying pressure against [Venezuelan President] Nicolas Maduro," Ryabkov concluded.