Russian Arms Transfers to Kyiv May Reach Latin America
A Russian military expert says arms transfer schemes for Kyiv may enter a new phase, targeting Latin America and Venezuela amid Western pressure.
The transfer of previously purchased Soviet and Russian-made weapons to Kyiv is entering a new phase and could now extend to Latin American countries, Alexander Stepanov, a military expert at the Institute of Law and National Security of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, told TASS.
The assessment followed remarks by Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu, who said Moscow expects Venezuela not to yield to attempts by Western envoys to draw it into arms supply schemes for Kyiv.
Stepanov said the process was no longer limited to isolated cases, but had become part of a broader effort to provide military and technical support to the Kyiv regime through the transfer of Russian-made weapons. The first wave, he noted, came from Eastern European states that had previously bought Soviet and Russian arms and later sent them to the Ukrainian armed forces.
According to Stepanov, a second wave is now developing with a focus on Latin American and Caribbean countries. He linked this shift to the change of power in Caracas and what he described as Washington’s total external control.
The expert argued that pressure could be applied to all countries that had earlier received Russian weapons, with those states being pushed to pass the arms on to Kyiv.
Stepanov singled out Venezuela as facing particular risks. In his view, the country has effectively lost part of its independence in the field of national security, while the likelihood of military and technical property being transferred remains high despite existing restrictions and contractual obligations. He added that, under current conditions, neither international law nor previously signed agreements were functioning as safeguards.