MOSCOW, January 20. /TASS/. Latin American countries may refuse to supply Ukraine with Soviet-and Russian-made weapons for political and legal reasons, the director of the Higher School of Economics’ Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies, Vasily Kashin, told TASS on Friday.

Earlier, the head of the US Southern Command, General Laura Richardson, said that Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua and six other Latin American countries had Russian military equipment and the United States was working to "replace that with US equipment, if those countries want to donate it to Ukraine."

"Even if they clinched some kind of tactical deal with the US, it would remain a hard fact that globally, the United States is interested in the collapse of the respective regimes. This will not change in the foreseeable future," Kashin said.

Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at a news briefing on Friday that the US initiative had legal limitations, but that the Kremlin would keep a close eye on the issue. Kashin also stressed that legal difficulties to the transfer of these weapons might arise.

"Juridical and legal restrictions on transferring hardware to third countries, of course, exist. Weapons supply contracts, as a rule, stipulate that the buyer has no right to transfer them without the consent of the manufacturer, in other words, without Russia approving the deal. Everyone can see that we are living through extraordinary times, with many rules being violated, but, indeed, anyone who dares take such a step is well aware that relations with Russia will be spoiled for years to come. The contract-breaker will become vulnerable to legal claims. This explains why such things do not happen," the analyst said.

Reluctance to be pegged to US weapons

The director of the Institute for the US and Canadian Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Valery Garbuzov, in a conversation with TASS, noted that Latin American countries would certainly like to replace obsolete Soviet equipment and the US proposal in this regard looked tempting enough, but certain nuances should be borne in mind.

"Although the US offer looks attractive, in this case, these countries will be pegged to the US arms market and US manufacturers for a very long time. Left-wing governments, like that in Venezuela, will be keen to steer clear of this.

Venezuela looks eager to replace old Soviet-era equipment, but it hopes that Russia will agree to provide substitutes," Garbuzov said.

Nevertheless, as the expert emphasized, in this matter one cannot but take into account the United States’ close economic ties with the countries in the region.

"As far as the left-wing regimes are concerned, the chances they can be persuaded to supply weapons [to Ukraine] look very slim. But it should be remembered that all Latin American countries, regardless of their ruling regimes, except for Cuba, exist hand in glove with US businesses. They are very strongly integrated into the American economy. They can simultaneously go ahead with anti-US rhetoric, and at the same time maintain trade with the United States. Such dualism cannot be ignored."