Russian ships sailed from Venezuela

Caracas.- A Russian frigate and a ship set sail from the northern Venezuelan port of La Guaira five days after visiting the South American country, which is one of Russia's strategic allies in the region, Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino said Sunday.

The frigate Gorshkov and the oil tanker Akademik Pashin, which docked in Venezuelan waters on Tuesday, are part of a Russian Navy fleet that has been conducting military exercises in the Atlantic since May 17. They have already visited Havana, Cuba. The purpose of the ships’ presence, Minister Padrino wrote on his X account, formerly known as Twitter, on Sunday, is to “deepen military-technical cooperation and strengthen friendship between our countries united in building a more just multipolar world.”

“It was a vivid display of strong friendship.”

Russian Ambassador Sergei Melik-Bagdasarov agreed that the visit by the Russian Northern Fleet was a “vivid demonstration of the strong friendship and strategic alliance” between the two countries, the Russian embassy in Caracas reported a day earlier in its account to X. A delegation of sailors from the Eurasian nation even took part in an official parade on Friday to mark the 213th anniversary of Venezuela’s independence. The United States has deemed Russia’s military presence in the Western Hemisphere noticeable but not alarming, while Joe Biden’s national security chief, Jake Sullivan, said it was monitoring the deployment closely and “carefully.” Relations between Russia and Venezuela have strengthened since the late president Hugo Chavez’s administration, with what was seen as a strategic geopolitical, trade, military and economic alliance. Current President Nicolas Maduro has continued that line. The two countries have more than 340 agreements in force.