He Russian foreign ministerSergei Lavrov, and his Venezuelan counterpartYvan Gil, have maintained a phone call this mondayin which they have expressed their “serious concern due to Washington’s escalation of actions in the Caribbean Sea,” as reported by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
That’s why Russia has offered “all its cooperation” and support to Venezuela against the blockade of ships by the United States, assured the Venezuelan Foreign Minister, Yván Gil, in a context in which the Government of Donald Trump maintains a military deployment in the waters of the Caribbean Sea and has confiscated three oil tankers.
“The Russian side has confirmed its broad support and solidarity with the leadership and people of Venezuela,” he said in a statement.
It was on his Telegram channel where Gil indicated that he had said phone call with Lavrov, with whom he reviewed what he called “assaults” and “rapes” to international law, when referring to the attacks against vessels supposedly linked to drug trafficking and which he described as “extrajudicial executions” in the Caribbean, as well as the “illicit acts of piracy” of the United States.
“Lavrov firmly expressed Russia’s solidarity with the people of Venezuela and with President Nicolás Maduro Moros, and ratified his full support against the hostilities against our country,” said the Venezuelan foreign minister, who anticipated that Russia will express its “total support” for Venezuela at next Tuesday’s meeting of the UN Security Council.
Last Saturday, Gil also claimed to have received from Iran an offer of cooperation “in all areas” to confront “piracy and international terrorism” from the United States.
On Telegram, the Venezuelan official said he had received a call from his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araqchiduring which they analyzed “the recent events in the Caribbean, especially the threats, acts of piracy by the United States and the theft of ships loaded with Venezuelan oil.”
He Russian support is not something new, last Wednesday he expressed his deep concern about the “belligerent” statements of the United States about Venezuela, and accused European leaders of “remaining silent” in the face of the announcement of a US “naval blockade” against the Latin American country.
“We are deeply concerned by the actions of the US Navy. The Pentagon’s generally belligerent statements suggest that, in addition to the illegal actions of sinking civilian ships without trial in the Caribbean, they are also planning a ground operation,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in a joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araqchi.
According to the Russian diplomat, Washington’s actions in the Caribbean “are disapproved by practically all countries, except the Europeans“.
The behavior of the latter, according to Lavrov, is related to their desire to “keep silent” to achieve their main objective, which is to “persuade Donald Trump’s administration to follow the European path on the Ukrainian issue.”
Increased pressure
This Sunday, the United States was carrying out an operation to intercept a third tanker in the Caribbean Seanear the coast of Venezuela, in international waters, as reported by Reuters a day after the seizure of a Panamanian-flagged tanker that, according to the White House, was trafficking “sanctioned crude oil” within the Venezuelan “ghost fleet.”
This is the second tanker that Washington would seek to intercept this weekend under the orders of Trump and the third after the intensification of the United States’ efforts to cut off the flow of crude oil from Venezuela, within the growing pressure that the White House exerts on the Government of Nicolás Maduro.
He first Venezuelan ship sanctioned that Trump blocked was on December 10, in an operation that US authorities defended as part of compliance with their sanctions laws. Instead, Maduro said that with this interception what the United States wanted was to “steal Venezuelan oil.”
Days later, Trump ordered a total blockade of the entry and exit of this country to oil tankers sanctioned by the US Government, as part of the pressure he exerts on Maduro, whom Washington accuses of leading a drug trafficking network.