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Russia Signals It Can Arm Venezuela With New Oreshnik, Kalibr Missiles Amid US Buildup

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Roman Kohanets
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Russia Signals It Can Arm Venezuela With New Oreshnik, Kalibr Missiles Amid US Buildup
Russian Oreshnik mobile missile system on parade. (Photo: open source)

Russia may supply Venezuela with its new Oreshnik and Kalibr missiles following Caracas’ request for military aid from Moscow, Beijing, and Tehran amid rising US activity in the Caribbean, Russian lawmaker Alexei Zhuravlyov told Gazeta.ru on November 1.

He said that Moscow already delivers a broad range of weapons to Venezuela and sees no legal obstacles to transferring more advanced systems.“

The details of what is being flown from Russia are classified, so the Americans may face surprises,” Zhuravlyov stated.

“I see no obstacles to supplying a friendly country with such new developments as the Oreshnik or, for example, the well-proven Kalibrs—at least, no international obligations limit Russia here,” he added.

The move came after reports citing internal US documents indicated that Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro had sent letters to Russian leader Vladimir Putin and the leaders of China and Iran.

In those, he requested assistance to strengthen Venezuela’s “dilapidated” defense sector with radars, aircraft repairs, and “possibly missiles” to counter increased US military activity in the region, The Washington Post reported.

Moscow also sought to portray the US deployments as illegitimate, accusing Washington of using “excessive military force” in the Caribbean under the guise of anti-drug operations.

“We firmly denounce the use of excessive military force in carrying out actions in anti-drugs operations,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said, calling such actions a violation of both US law and international norms.

Earlier, it was reported that Maduro appealed to Putin for missile deliveries as US warships operated near Venezuela, while also asking China and Iran for additional military technology to resist what Caracas described as US pressure.

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