Venezuelan Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino (2-L) is pictured after the arrival of two Russian Tupolev Tu-160 strategic long-range heavy supersonic bomber aircrafts at Maiquetia International Airport, just north of Caracas, Venezuela on December 10, 2018. (AFP PHOTO)
MOSCOW, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- The remarks of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo over the landing of Russian strategic bombers in Venezuela are undiplomatic and inappropriate, the Kremlin said Tuesday.
"It's not very diplomatic to hear quite a serious accusation from the secretary of state, when he voices such words regarding the leadership of Russia. We consider this an absolutely inappropriate statement," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Earlier in the day, a group of four Russian military aircraft, namely two Tu-160 strategic bombers, a heavy An-124 military transport aircraft and an IL-62 long-range aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces, landed in Venezuela.
Pompeo tweeted that the sending of the aircraft is "two corrupt governments squandering public funds, and squelching liberty and freedom while their people suffer."
On Wednesday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu met his Venezuelan counterpart, Vladimir Padrino Lopez, and discussed bilateral military technical cooperation, the Russian Defense Ministry said on its website.