The United States, after gaining control over Venezuela, has begun forcing Russian companies out of the country, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with RT. “Right now, following what’s happening in Venezuela, they are openly trying to remove our companies from Venezuela,” he said, without specifying which companies he meant.
Among other hostile steps taken by the U.S. against Russia after the meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Lavrov cited sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil and the imposition of additional tariffs on countries buying Russian oil, primarily India. “And everywhere the line is: Russian oil and Russian gas will be replaced by U.S. oil and U.S. LNG. Very recently, a document on Cuba was adopted stating that a national emergency is declared due to the threat Cuba poses to U.S. interests in the Caribbean, including because of Russia’s hostile and malign policy.”
Lavrov voiced doubts about the future of economic and investment cooperation between Russia and the United States, and said Putin was surprised when the U.S. imposed new sanctions shortly after the Alaska meeting.
In May of last year, Russia and Venezuela signed a strategic partnership and cooperation agreement. As of October, five joint oil production ventures with Russia were operating in Venezuela. Russian assets in the country are managed by the state company Roszarubezhneft.
In early January, the United States carried out an operation in which Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was detained in Caracas and taken to New York, where he was charged with drug trafficking. After that, the Venezuelan government began cooperating with the U.S. administration. President Trump said the U.S. would take control of Venezuelan oil sales.
In late January, the U.S. lifted some sanctions on Venezuela’s oil sector. The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control authorized U.S. companies to buy, sell, transport, store and refine Venezuelan oil. The authorization explicitly excludes firms and individuals from Russia, as well as from China, Iran, North Korea and Cuba.
