A team of Russian military personnel has visited Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, in order to take part in consultations with the country’s officials over defence industry cooperation between two sides.
A diplomatic source told Sputnik, “[The Russian military personnel] has arrived to take part in bilateral consultations,” when asked about the arrival reports of two Russian military planes to Venezuela on Saturday.
The source has noted there was “nothing mysterious” about the possible Russian planes’ arrival reports because the Russian visit was directly related to the military contracts as well as technical cooperation.
The source added, “Russia [and Venezuela] have a number of contracts, which are being implemented, including contracts on military and technical cooperation.”
Russia has sent two of its military planes to Venezuela which landed on Saturday at the country’s main airport, reportedly carrying dozens of Russian troops as well as large amounts of equipment.
The Russian aircrafts sent to “fulfil technical military contracts” with Venezuela, according to BBC news reports. The development has come three months after both sides held joint military exercises.
More Russian soldiers unload in #Venezuela to help prop up Pres. #Maduro. The Ilyushin IL-62M is used to carry military personnel and frequently flies troops from #Russia to Syria — indeed it stopped in #Syria on its way from Russia to #Caracas. pic.twitter.com/YfU2SnZacJ
— Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) March 24, 2019
Russia, a Venezuelan ally, has lent the country with billions of dollars and also backed its military and oil industry. Moscow has long vocally voiced against the United States imposing sanctions over the Venezuelan government of embattled President Nicolas Maduro.