Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov. Photo: International Affairs Magazine.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that his country stands with Venezuela against any US invasion attempt, as the United States amass troops in the Caribbean.
“In the current difficult situation, at this hour of trial, we stand shoulder to shoulder with the Venezuelan people and our allies as never before,” said Ryabkov in an interview with the magazine International Affairs on Thursday, November 20.
In the conversation, the senior Russian official condemned the US military deployment in the Caribbean. He pointed out that this situation has turned into a potential “flashpoint” under a “completely flimsy pretext” of the US empire.
He condemned the US empire’s “narco-state” slanders against Venezuela.
“It is clear that the fight against drug trafficking must be waged by other means, and it is equally clear that the accusations against the Venezuelan leadership, and Venezuela as a country, are also, by and large, unfounded,” he said.
“If you take a closer look at the documents published on drug trafficking in Latin America and the Caribbean in previous years, both by the UN and the US State Department, you’ll quickly notice that Venezuela is far from the forefront,” he explained. “And the drug cartels themselves, to which Washington makes numerous references, are also rather being inflated as a topic to provide a certain political underpinning for the accumulation of this military strike force.”
“We condemn the escalation of tensions in this region,” he added.
Venezuela and Russia: A Strategic Partnership for a Multipolar World
In fact, in the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Annual Drug Reports from 1999 to 2025—that is, for 27 consecutive years—Venezuela has never appeared as a country of significance in terms of illicit drugs, narcotics, or controlled substances.
In a preview of the interview, the full version of which will be published on November 22, the Russian deputy foreign minister said that his country advocates “for all of Latin America to remain a zone of peace.”
In reference to Russia’s relationship with Venezuela, he said, “We have a special partnership with Venezuela. We recently ratified the framework agreement on a strategic comprehensive partnership with this country. We cooperate across all fronts, and our security agencies cooperate—that is no secret either.”
On November 5, Ryabkov had condemned the United States’ unjustified military deployment in the Caribbean, when he stated that the empire is solely responsible for the tensions in the region.
“We stand in solidarity with Venezuela. We believe that the United States’ unjustified military deployment in the southern Caribbean and other regions creates a climate of heightened tension, and the United States is solely responsible for this,” he said in remarks to the press, as reported by the TASS news agency.
He also highlighted on November 5 that “Venezuela is doing everything possible to end drug trafficking in the region.”
The United States’ “justification” for its unprecedented military deployment in the Caribbean is its fight against drug trafficking and “terrorist” gangs, which, according to the US government, are Venezuelan. In that regard, Ryabkov emphasized that, according to reports from the United Nations, Venezuela has no involvement with drug cartels.
(Diario VEA) by Yuleidys Hernández Toledo
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/SC/DZ
