Russia threatens to send hypersonic missiles to Venezuela in major move against Trump | World | News
Russia made a big move against the US President, threatening to send hypersonic missiles to Venezuela Donald Trump.
Amid rising tensions over the significant US military presence in the Caribbean, a senior Russian lawmaker has suggested that Moscow may send hypersonic missiles to help defend the country led by President Maduro.
Alexei Zhuravlyov, deputy chairman of Russia’s parliamentary defense committee, told Russian state media: “I see no obstacles to supplying new weapons to a friendly country. [weapon] Developments like Oreshnik.”
The Kremlin claimed that the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile, which means “hazelnut tree” in Russian, was impossible to stop and could carry conventional and nuclear warheads. It is a medium-range ballistic missile that travels at hypersonic speeds.
He also said Moscow could supply Kalibr cruise missiles to Caracas and warned that “the Americans may be facing some surprises.”
The US military presence in the Caribbean is its largest since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, which brought the world to the brink of nuclear war.
President Trump accused Maduro of facilitating drug smuggling into the United States, and the United States ordered warships, fighter jets, marines, drones and spy planes to the coast of Venezuela.
“The unjust concentration of American forces in the Southern Caribbean creates a situation of increasing tension, and no one but the United States is responsible for this,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Rybakov said.
US strikes have killed more than 60 people in the Caribbean who Washington claims are drug traffickers. Trump also authorized the CIA to carry out covert actions in Venezuela.
Washington has offered a $50 million reward for the arrest of President Maduro on drug charges. But Trump said last week that he was not planning an attack on Venezuelan territory.
Maduro, who has ruled Venezuela for more than 10 years since 2013, accused Donald Trump of “fabricating the war” and claimed that he had daily talks with Russia, including military issues.
He claimed that Washington’s real goal was to seize Venezuela’s oil reserves and that in response to the US military presence, Venezuela had deployed 5,000 Russian-sourced surface-to-air missiles.
He said Igla-S portable missiles were deployed across the country “from the remotest mountain to the remotest village, to the remotest city.”
In May, Russia and Venezuela signed a strategic partnership agreement that acknowledged “military-technical” cooperation between the two countries, although it did not include a mutual defense agreement.
The deadly Oreshnik missile referenced by Zhuravlyov was used by Russia for the first and only time last year and was fired at a factory in Dnipro, Ukraine. President Zelensky said last week that its range is just over 3,000 miles.
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