MOSCOW. Feb 27 (Interfax) - Federation Council Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Konstantin Kosachyov has called media reports about the alleged deployment of Russian mercenaries to Venezuela "dubious."
The Venezuela situation and the Federation Council's statement on the issue were discussed at a plenary meeting of the upper house of the Russian parliament on Wednesday. Federation Council member Lyudmila Narusova asked Kosachyov whether media reports about "the intention to send a certain private military company to Venezuela" were true.
"We have twice discussed the Venezuela situation at the Foreign Affairs Committee during open- and closed-door meetings before today's discussion. You may rest assured that no such information has cropped up at either stage. I see no grounds for discussing it here today on the basis of some dubious media reports," Kosachyov said.
A number of media outlets said in late January that Russian mercenaries had arrived in Venezuela in order to protect President Nicolas Maduro.