Stop interfering in Venezuela, Russia warns US
Moscow: Russia on Saturday warned Washington to stop interfering in the stand-off between Venezuela's government and the opposition movement, and once again defended its decision to send personnel to the country.
"We recommend that the United States stop threatening Venezuela, smothering its economy and pushing it towards civil war in open violation of international law," foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement.
On Friday, a statement from the US National Security Advisor John Bolton warned "actors external to the Western Hemisphere against deploying military assets to Venezuela".
But Zakharova, in her statement Saturday, said Russia had made it clear it was not sending a military contingent to Venezuela.
Two Russian military planes landed a week ago at the main airport outside Caracas and offloaded equipment and troops, ratcheting up international tensions.
Russian officials insist the troops came to Venezuela as part of a long-standing agreement on military and technical cooperation.
But US President Donald Trump has called on Russia to "get out" of Venezuela, with Russia saying its troops will stay for as long as needed.
The military specialists are apparently helping to fix a malfunctioning Russian S-300 ground-to-air missile system, US envoy Elliott Abrams said Friday.
Russia and Venezuela signed a military cooperation treaty in 2011 involving the sale of Russian weapons to Venezuela.
Earlier Saturday, Rosoboronexport, Russia's state arms export company said it has opened a training centre for military helicopter pilots in Venezuela, after Moscow flew in troops and equipment.
Venezuela, Russia's largest client in Latin America, has already received "a significant amount of Russian arms and military technology", Rosoboronexport spokesman Davydenko added.
The United States and more than 50 other countries recognise Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim president. Russia, along with China, backs President Nicolas Maduro.
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
