Russia on Sunday issued new statements voicing deep concern over the US force posture in the southern Caribbean, warning against any possible slide toward direct military action.

The fresh Kremlin statement said Moscow is standing shoulder to shoulder with Caracas, with a fresh appeal for the Trump administration to avoid exacerbating tensions which could lead to open and unnecessary conflict.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov criticized Washington's desire to establish unconditional dominance in the region, and decried that this has become the norm for the current administration. 

He warned that "tensions are not easing" and "escalation continues" off Latin America, also after the last few months stretching back to September have seen a string of nearly two dozen deadly US attacks on alleged drug smuggling boats near Venezuela. 

"This is primarily due to the desire to assert the unquestioning dominance of the United States in the region, this is a trademark of the Trump administration," Ryabkov explained.

According to more of his statement:

"We express our solidarity with Venezuela, with whom we recently signed a strategic partnership and cooperation agreement," the deputy foreign minister noted.

"We support Venezuela, as it supports us, in many areas. In this hour of trial, we stand shoulder to shoulder with Caracas and the Venezuelan leadership. We hope that the Trump administration will refrain from further escalating the situation toward a full-scale conflict. We urge it to do so."

The Kremlin in these remarks might also have in mind the just published (on Friday) US National Security Strategy and its significant refocus of America's priorities on the Western Hemisphere.

The document clearly establishes this as the top priority, saying that the US will now "assert and enforce a 'Trump Corollary' to the Monroe Doctrine."

The US national security authors write that this means "a readjustment of our global military presence to address urgent threats in our Hemisphere, and away from theaters whose relative import to American national security has declined in recent decades or years."

While Russia has been a longtime ally of President Maduro, it is unlikely to come to his defense in any direct way, also given the delicate and sensitive efforts to improve bilateral ties with Washington amid talks to de-escalate the Ukraine war. This despite Caracas having formally pleaded for more help from Moscow of late, including arms deliveries.