The Russian government warned the United States against military action against Venezuela, saying such a move would constitute a “fatal mistake.”
As Moscow continues to engage with Washington to bring an end to the war in Ukraine, the Russian Foreign Ministry sent its ally in Caracas a strong showing of support with a recent statement that warned that any intervention by the U.S. could have “unpredictable consequences for the entire western hemisphere.”
“We hope that the Trump administration, which is characterised by a rational and pragmatic approach, will not make a fatal mistake,” it added, expressing “solidarity” with the Venezuelan people and support for President Nicolás Maduro’s policy “aimed at the defence of the country’s interests.”
Moscow and Caracas enjoy a fairly close relationship, having recently ratified the Russia-Venezuela Strategic Partnership Treaty and providing mutual sanctions relief. However, Russia’s options for assisting its ally if President Donald Trump decides to take military action are limited — its military is focused on the war in Ukraine, and it has few means of projecting power into the Western Hemisphere in even the best of circumstances.
Analysts have noted that the flailing Maduro regime, with little legitimacy and an imploding economy, ranks at the bottom of Russia and China’s priorities.
“There is no reason today for either Russia or China to go all-in defending Venezuela, given their other problems, such as Russia and its war in Ukraine, and China trying to coexist internationally with President Trump,” Fernando Reyes Matta, director of the Centre for China Studies at Andrés Bello University in Chile, told the BBC last week.
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Russia’s need to remain cordial with the Trump administration to try to negotiate an end to the costly war in Ukraine remains its priority with Washington. Moscow’s statement comes as U.S. moves against Venezuela reach a fever pitch, with the president laying out new grievances against Caracas and announcing a blockade of oil tankers on Tuesday.
In a threatening message on Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump boasted that the nation was “completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America.” He warned that pressure would only increase and demanded the government “return to the United States of America all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us.”
“For the theft of our Assets, and many other reasons, including Terrorism, Drug Smuggling, and Human Trafficking, the Venezuelan Regime has been designated a FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION. Therefore, today, I am ordering A TOTAL AND COMPLETE BLOCKADE OF ALL SANCTIONED OIL TANKERS going into, and out of, Venezuela,” Trump declared, adding that Venezuelan migrants and criminals that entered during the “weak and inept” Biden administration were being returned “at a rapid pace.”
The theft Trump repeatedly derides refers to the nationalization of foreign oil assets in the country by Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez, in 2007. The president said all assets must be returned to the U.S. “IMMEDIATELY.”
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U.S. officials explained the Trump administration’s strategy to the Wall Street Journal last month, saying that the increasing pressure could push some within Venezuela’s security elite to turn against Maduro and force him out of power before any military intervention is needed.
Pressure has only increased on Venezuela since. Over the past week, U.S. special forces boarded the Skipper, a sanctioned vessel transporting Venezuelan oil, in the first move of its kind. Most oil exports go to China.
