The US government sees the military cooperation of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro with Russia increasingly critical and threatens Moscow with sanctions. US National Security Advisor Donald Trump's John Bolton condemned Russian support for Maduro and warned other states not to send military forces or equipment to the South American country.
"We will interpret such acts of provocation as a direct threat to international peace and security in the region," Bolton said.
In the domestic power struggle in Caracas Russia supports Maduro. In contrast, Washington - like dozens of other states - is on the side of the self-appointed interim president Juan Guaidó. The US has repeatedly called on Russia to withdraw from Venezuela.
US Special Envoy for Venezuela, Elliott Abrams, said the United States has a whole range of options to tackle Russia's involvement in Venezuela. This included possible sanctions. Russia was unimpressed by it.
Trump announced that he would soon be talking to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping about the Venezuelan crisis.
"Russia has to get out"
Last weekend, two Russian planes with 99 soldiers landed in Venezuela - which Americans consider provocation. There is also military cooperation between Moscow and Caracas at other levels. Venezuela is considered the largest buyer of Russian weapons in Latin America.
Already in recent days, the US government had sharply criticized Russia's assistance to Maduro and the deployment of military forces and equipment into the country. At first, Washington had vaguely threatened consequences. The US State Department said on Monday that they would not sit idle and watch Russia inflate tension in Venezuela. On Wednesday, Trump himself called on Russia to withdraw from Venezuela. "Russia has to go," he said.
On Friday, the White House relented. The US government is condemning Maduro's continued use of foreign military forces to stay in power, Bolton said. Maduro used the military support to further oppress the Venezuelan people. Bolton warned players beyond the Americas of militarily supporting Maduro's leadership. Such provocative actions would be understood as a threat to international peace and security in the region.
In the video: Trump meets with wife of Interim President Guaidó
REUTERS
"Russians do not have a free hand"
Asked what the US government wants to do about Russia's actions, Abrams said, "We have a list of options." There are possibilities at the diplomatic, but also at the economic level - about sanctions. He did not become more specific. He emphasized, "It would be a mistake if the Russians believed that they had a free hand here, they did not have that." Abrams said the number of Russian soldiers in Venezuela is not large, but their potential influence is considerable. Their presence was in no way beneficial to the people there.
Russia had already rejected the Americans' accusations in recent days and accused Washington of organizing a coup d'état for a change of power in Venezuela and inadvertently interfering in the state's internal affairs. Moscow refers to an existing agreement of military-technical cooperation with Venezuela.
On Friday, Russia again called on the US not to interfere in Venezuela's internal affairs.