Russia tells Colombia that military aid to Venezuela will not be used against it or Latin America

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Russian ambassador in Bogotá, Nikolay K. Tavdumadze, expressed this Monday to the Colombian government in a meeting that it will not use against it the “military cooperation” of that country in Venezuela given the concern expressed by the Executive of Iván Duque because its neighbor protects guerrilla groups in its territory.

“The Russian ambassador has expressed to us that no military cooperation from Russia to Venezuela will ever be used for a military action against Colombia and any Latin American country, nor to affect the stability of the region,” the vice president and foreign minister, Marta Lucía Ramírez, told journalists after the meeting with the diplomat.

The meeting, which took place at the Casa de Nariño, the seat of the Executive, was organized to clarify the objectives of Russia’s military presence in Venezuela.

This after the Minister of Defense, Diego Molano, said last week that some men and units of the Bolivarian Military Force had been mobilized to the border with Colombia “with the support and technical assistance of Russia and Iran”.

The Russian embassy in Colombia rejected Molano’s assertions, which considered them “irresponsible statements by the member of the government Cabinet”.

In a statement, the embassy added that this office “notes with perplexity the continuous attempts to accuse without grounds the Russian Federation of alleged interference in the affairs of Colombia”.

CONVERSATION BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES

Today, the Colombian Foreign Minister said that the Russian diplomats understood “the concern expressed by the Minister for the situation on the border” due to “the presence of illegal groups, drug trafficking, which are generating so much violence in Arauca”.

“We require that there is not the slightest risk that the military cooperation that has existed between Russia and Venezuela for a long time does not go, eventually by carelessness or for whatever reason, to end up any Russian military equipment in the hands of illegal groups that are present on the border,” Ramirez added.

Likewise, Ramirez said that both countries would maintain “a fluid, direct, respectful, and always a very frank conversation about any concern that the Colombian government may have” because, in the end, the obligation of the Government “is to guarantee the necessary security to all Colombians”.

“We have raised with the Russian ambassador that for Colombia it is indispensable that in this some protocols are applied (…) which is the end-user certificate, in such a way that there is always the guarantee that no equipment will be used by anyone other than the Venezuelan Military Forces and much less to attack any country in the region”, he stressed.

According to the Colombian government, Venezuela protects FARC dissidents and the National Liberation Army (ELN). They are preparing attacks against the civilian population and the public forces, oil pipelines, and electric infrastructure.