WASHINGTON, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- The United States will be watching if Russia participates in naval exercises with Venezuela in November, a Bush administration official said Monday.
While Sean McCormack, assistant U.S. secretary of state for public affairs, told reporters in Washington he hadn't seen Russia confirm Venezuela's claim of the warship training maneuvers in the Southern Hemisphere, "but I suppose if it is, in fact, true, then they found a few ships that can make it that far."
McCormack said it would be "probably overstating it" to call Russia's participation in Venezuelan exercises an intrusion into the United States' sphere of geographical influence and control.
"I'm not aware of any legal violations. And certainly, like I said, we'll watch it, we'll see if the exercises come off," McCormack said.
