MOSCOW. Feb 17 (Interfax) - Russia may plan to create military bases in Latin America and deploy hypersonic systems in various directions as a military-technical answer to the unwillingness of the United States and its allies to provide Russia with security guarantees, Yury Shvytkin, deputy chairman of the State Duma defense committee, said.
"Russia's response could be military-technical, by deploying our military contingent, our bases, including in Latin American countries, Venezuela included, but also, certainly, by deploying hypersonic weapons in various directions," Shvytkin said on Thursday.
"In this direction, it is possible to bolster military-technical presence within our borders: the personnel, the weapons, and equipment as a means of deterrence," he said.
The Russian reply sent to the U.S. on Thursday regarding security proposals notes that there was no constructive reply from the U.S. on the proposals and that in the absence of U.S. readiness to negotiate Moscow could resort to measures of a military-technical nature.
"We can acknowledge that the U.S. side did not give a constructive answer to the basic elements of a draft treaty with the U.S. on security guarantees, drawn up by the Russian side," the document circulated on Thursday, and translated from Russian by Interfax says.
"In the absence of the American side's willingness to negotiate firm and legally binding guarantees of our security by the U.S. and its allies, Russia will have to respond, including through implementing military-technical measures," it said.