Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov
ALEXANDER ZEMLIANICHENKO/Getty Images.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the United States is "openly seeking to expel our companies" from Venezuela following the capture of authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro in early January.
Speaking to RT, Lavrov said that, ever since, Washington has been pushing for the exit of companies such as Rosneft and Lukoil.
Interim President Delcy Rodriguez has overhauled the country's oil industry and been cooperating with the Trump administration since the capture of Nicolas Maduro in early January.
Russia, a close ally of the Chavista regime, has been highly critical of Maduro's capture and the U.S. tutelage of Caracas.
Earlier this week Dmitry Medvedev, former Russian president and current deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council said the developments have shattered international relations and could be viewed by Venezuela as an act of war.
"What happened to President Nicolás Maduro is obviously a violation of any norms of international law," Medvedev said in remarks published by Russian state media and in interviews with Reuters, TASS and the pro-war blogger WarGonzo. "It breaks the whole system of international relations."
Medvedev said that if a foreign power had "stolen" U.S. President Donald Trump, Washington would clearly regard it as an act of war. He argued that the U.S. action against Maduro set a dangerous precedent and risked destabilizing the global order.
Medvedev has repeatedly framed the U.S. operation as driven by economic interests, particularly oil, while warning that further escalation would be costly.
He has also expanded his criticism to include other Western leaders. In January comments he suggested that Moscow could consider actions against foreign officials similar to the U.S. seizure of Maduro, naming German Chancellor Friedrich Merz as an example, as Euronews reports. Medvedev accused Merz of extremism after the German leader criticized the U.S. action in Venezuela and argued that Russia could, in theory, apply the same logic used by Washington.
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Tags: Russia, Venezuela, United States
