Maduro, Putin talk after diplomat hints at military activity

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro says he has spoken by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin about cooperation between the two countries. Thursday’s call came a week after a Russian diplomat said he would “neither confirm nor exclude” the possibility of Russia sending military assets to Cuba and Venezuela if the U.S. and its allies don’t curtail their military activities on Russia’s doorstep. Maduro’s office says Putin “expressed all his multidimensional support and backing for the defense of the sovereignty and in pursuit of the development of” the South American country. U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan has dismissed the comments as bluster.