Putin Backs Venezuela With New Strategic Treaty
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law a Strategic Partnership Treaty with Venezuela on Monday, formalizing a broad cooperation agreement between the two countries that extends across political, economic, and security domains. | The Kremlin said the treaty, first signed in Moscow on May 7, expands collaboration in energy, mining, transport, communications, and counterterrorism. The accord was ratified last week by both chambers of Russia's paliament and earlier this month by the Venezuelan National Assembly, followed by President Nicolás Maduro's signature on October 7. ● Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov called the simultaneous ratification "very important in the current situation," saying Venezuela faced "unprecedented pressure, including direct military pressure, from the United States," as EFE reports. ● Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov echoed that stance during a meeting with Venezuela's ambassador to Moscow, Jesús Rafael Salazar Velázquez, reaffirming Russia's solidarity with Caracas "in the face of growing external threats and attempts at interference." ● The agreement comes amid escalating U.S. military activity in the Caribbean. The Trump administration has expanded naval deployments under an anti-drug operation that has included several strikes on vessels near Venezuelan waters. Caracas has denounced the campaign as a pretext for regime change.
■ US Deploying Aircraft Carrier Strike Group Near Venezuela as Regime Change Push Heats Up (antiwar.com)


