The Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson condemned Washington’s actions to destabilize Venezuela and called on the United States to stop actions that are considered examples of piracy and banditry.
According to IRNA, TASS news agency, Maria Zakharova added at her weekly press conference on Thursday: Russia strongly condemns the US’s attempts to destabilize Venezuela and hopes that the pragmatism of US President Donald Trump will allow this issue to be resolved through legal means.
She stated: “Today, we are literally witnessing chaos in the Caribbean Sea, where it seems that forgotten methods of illegal seizure of other people’s property, namely piracy, raids and banditry, have been revived.”The Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman stressed: “We strongly condemn such phenomena and call for the establishment of stability, order and law in the maritime domain.”
He added: “Moscow consistently supports the reduction of tensions in the current situation and the maintenance of trust and predictability; here it is important to prevent a destructive scenario.”
The Russian diplomat once again expressed Moscow’s support for the efforts of the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to protect its sovereignty and national interests and maintain the country’s stable and secure development.She continued: At Tuesday’s meeting of the UN Security Council, the strengthening of the US military presence in the Caribbean Sea and the naval blockade of Venezuela were discussed, and the vast majority of countries condemned the unilateral nature of these restrictions, which grossly violate existing international laws, principles and norms, namely the sovereign equality of States, non-interference in internal affairs, freedom of navigation and economic rights.
Zakharova recalled: From the perspective of international maritime law and as stated in Article 87 of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the US actions are considered a violation of freedom of navigation.
She continued: We firmly believe that Latin America and the Caribbean must remain a zone of peace, as declared in 2014.
Previously, the US has accused the Venezuelan authorities of not adequately combating drug trafficking.The US Navy has since deployed a task force led by the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, a nuclear submarine and more than 16,000 troops to the Caribbean.
Since September, US forces have reportedly sunk at least 20 speedboats in the region, killing at least 80 people. Washington has also announced the closure of Venezuelan airspace and the blockade of sanctioned oil tankers.
US media have repeatedly reported that the US may soon launch strikes on drug gang targets in Venezuela.
Talks with the US are moving in the right direction
A Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said: “Negotiations with the US on resolving the Ukraine crisis are moving slowly but in the right direction, and we are seeing gradual but steady progress.”The negotiations between Washington and Moscow are accompanied by extremely harmful and even malicious attempts by a group of countries, primarily Western European countries, “to undermine and derail all the diplomatic progress achieved.”
She stated: “In dialogue with the US administration, we always call on our colleagues to actively resist this destructive trend.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson continued: “Russia is ready to continue cooperation within the framework established at the highest level between the leaders of Russia and the US at the Alaska summit.”
Do not travel to Germany
In another part of the press conference, Zakharova referred to what she called numerous violations of the rights of Russian citizens at the German border and said: “We strongly urge our citizens to refrain from traveling to Germany except in absolutely necessary cases.”According to him, the advice was published on the official websites of the Russian Foreign Ministry and its representations abroad.
The Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said: “This advice can also be useful for journalists who are sent to Germany, because there are obvious problems.”
He continued: “The question for the German authorities is: will they solve their problems? Or do they think everything is fine?”; Let me remind you: there were moments in German history when such nationalistic displays were perceived by the authorities as a kind of new norm and ultimately led to a global catastrophe
