US disturbed by Russian arms sales to Latin America

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 17:44:10 GMT
Russia's recent arms sales to Latin America have prompted the US to raise concerns about unpredicted developments in its backyard.  The sales may fuel competition in the area as other players there were sure to try to catch up, said the US envoy to Colombia William Brownfield on Sunday.  Brownfield warned of 'some sales of weapons and military systems by companies in the Russian Federation to the region' saying "it is impossible to say that a country can buy weapons and the neighbors are not going to take it into account."   It was tactless of Moscow to go ahead with the sales, the diplomat suggested adding that "it's important to proceed carefully in introducing new weapons and weapons systems in the hemisphere."  The remarks come shortly after the August developments near Russia when the Georgian military, having reportedly received American training, invaded South Ossetia endangering the lives of the Russian peacekeepers and nationals in the pro-independence south Caucasian republic.   "Georgia invaded South Ossetia and they had plans to invade (the other independence-leaning republic nearby) Abkhazia having been told to 'by the United States' that this would constitute the steps to integrate your territory and you would be admitted as a NATO member," Russian political analyst Alexander Pikayev told Press TV.   Washington has also failed to offer a substitute for the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaties (START) which is due to expire late next year. Last month, the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the US was tipping off the nuclear arms balance by not producing a post-START pact.   The minister added that this was needed more than ever as the United States was planning to place elements of a defensive missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic; a move that Moscow warns is sure to disturb the region's strategic balance.