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A6 WORLD NEWS
Friday 14 January 2022
Russia won't rule out military deployment to Cuba, Venezuela

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV allies mounted. In Decem-
and EMILY SCHULTHEIS ber 2018, Russia briefly dis-
Associated Press patched a pair of its nucle-
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia ar-capable Tu-160 bomb-
on Thursday sharply raised ers to Venezuela in a show
the stakes in its dispute with of support for Venezuelan
the West over Ukraine, with President Nicolas Maduro
a top diplomat refusing to amid Western pressure.
rule out a Russian military Ryabkov said a refusal
deployment to Cuba and by the U.S. and its allies to
Venezuela if tensions with consider the key Russian
the United States mount. demand for guarantees
Deputy Foreign Minister against the alliance's ex-
Sergei Ryabkov, who led pansion to Ukraine and oth-
the Russian delegation in er ex-Soviet nations makes
Monday's talks with the U.S. it hard to discuss such issues
in Geneva, said he could as arms control and confi-
"neither confirm nor ex- dence-building steps that
clude" the possibility of Rus- Washington says it's ready
sia sending military assets to to negotiate.
Cuba and Venezuela if the "The U.S. wants to conduct
talks fail and U.S. pressure a dialogue on some ele-
on Russia mounts. ments of the security situa-
The Russia-U.S. negotiations tion ... to ease the tensions
in Geneva and a subse- and then continue the pro-
quent NATO-Russia meet- Associated Press cess of geopolitical and
ing failed to narrow the military development of
gap on Moscow's security lin and turns up military miles), is hard to intercept after U.S. President John F. the new territories, com-
demands amid a buildup pressure on it. and could be fitted with Kennedy and Soviet leader ing closer to Moscow," he
of Russian troops near While voicing concern that conventional or nuclear Nikita Khrushchev agreed said. "We have nowhere
Ukraine. While Moscow de- NATO could potentially use warheads. It's set to be Moscow would withdraw to retreat." Kremlin spokes-
manded a halt to NATO ex- Ukrainian territory for the commissioned by the Rus- its missiles in exchange for man Dmitry Peskov also de-
pansion, Washington and deployment of missiles ca- sian navy later this year and Washington's pledge not scribed this week's talks as
its allies firmly rejected that pable of reaching Moscow installed aboard its frigates to invade Cuba and the "unsuccessful" even though
as a nonstarter. in just five minutes, Putin has and submarines. removal of U.S. missiles he noted "some positive
Speaking in an interview noted that Russian warships Ryabkov's statement fol- from Turkey. Soon after his elements and nuances."
with Russian RTVI TV, Ryab- armed with the latest Zircon lowed his comments last first election in 2000, Putin "The talks were initiated to
kov noted that "it all de- hypersonic cruise missile month comparing the cur- ordered the closure of a receive specific answers
pends on the action by our would give Russia a similar rent tensions over Ukraine Soviet-built military surveil- to concrete principal is-
U.S. counterparts," pointing capability if deployed in with the 1962 Cuban Mis- lance facility in Cuba as he sues that were raised, and
to Russian President Vladi- neutral waters. sile Crisis when the Soviet sought to improve ties with disagreements remained
mir Putin's warning that Zircon, which Putin said flies Union deployed missiles to Washington. Moscow has on those principal issues,
Moscow could take mili- at nine times the speed of Cuba and the U.S. imposed intensified contacts with which is bad," he said in a
tary-technical measures if sound to a range of more a naval blockade of the Cuba in recent years as conference call with re-
the U.S. provokes the Krem- than 1,000 kilometers (620 island. That crisis ended tensions with the U.S. and its porters. q

UK government cuts COVID isolation period to 5 days, from 7

coronavirus in the country try while we're keeping ev- pitals in England -- the cur-
is starting to slow. eryone safe." rent wave of the pandemic
Javid told Parliament that The U.K. saw record num- has not seen an increase in
official data suggested bers of daily confirmed in- intensive care patients.
two-thirds of people are fections over Christmas and Official data showed "en-
no longer infectious by the New Year, topping 200,000 couraging signs" that cases
end of the fifth day after cases on some days, as the were falling in London and
they test positive. He said more transmissible omicron eastern England, he add-
that starting Monday, those variant spread rapidly. In- ed, but infections were ris-
infected can leave isola- dustries from retail to edu- ing elsewhere in the coun-
tion from the start of day 6, cation, and infrastructure try. Javid stressed that vac-
after taking two negative like public transport and cines, testing and antiviral
tests. postal services, have been treatments continue to be
Currently, those infected severely disrupted because the best way to "protect
Associated Press can be released from self- scores of workers had to our health and our free-
By SYLVIA HUI reduced from next week isolation after seven days if isolate and could not go to doms as we learn to live
Associated Press to five full days, instead of they test negative on both work. Javid told lawmakers with COVID."
LONDON (AP) — British offi- seven. days six and seven. that although hospitals will The U.K. has entered the
cials said Thursday the self- Health Secretary Sajid Ja- Javid urged people to con- "remain under significant third year of coping with
isolation period for people vid also said that early signs tinue to self-test for the vi- pressure" over the coming the pandemic "but this vi-
in England who test posi- indicate that the rate of rus, so that "we can restore weeks -- with almost 17,000 rus is not going away," he
tive for COVID-19 will be hospitalization from the the freedoms to this coun- COVID-19 patients in hos- added.q