Russia extended its criticism of the U.S. position on Venezuela on Tuesday, describing the most recent authorizations against the government of President Nicolás Maduro as illegitimate, even as the Russian Finance Ministry recognized that its loans to Caracas were in danger on account of the emergency.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s representative, Dmitry Peskov, said the new U.S. measures blocking all U.S. income from Venezuela’s national oil organization were the most recent example of Washington utilizing economic authorizations to further U.S. commercial interests. The Kremlin has leveled comparable analysis against U.S. sanctions on Russia and Iran.
“You know the consistent attitude of Moscow toward such actions, which our American colleagues are taking more and more frequently,” Peskov said. “We believe that in most cases, this is an instance of unfair competition.”
Maduro is a key partner of Russia in Venezuela, giving Moscow a geopolitical decent footing a three-hour departure from Miami. Russia has extended billions of dollars in loans to Venezuela and in December dispatched nuclear-able bombers to the nation in a show of force.
Be that as it may, it is a long way from clear that Russia’s influence in the nation will be sufficient to keep Maduro in power. Russian authorities have kept on demanding that Maduro is Venezuela’s legitimate president and offered to mediate, alongside Iran, among “responsible political forces” in the nation. Yet, they have not offered insights regarding a particular new help that Russia would give to Maduro.
Rather, Russia’s Finance Ministry recognized Tuesday that Venezuela’s loan repayments to Moscow may keep running into some head winds. Deputy Russian Finance Minister Sergei Storchak said it isn’t certain whether a $100 million payment due from Venezuela in March will land on time.
“There will probably be some problems,” Storchak told reporters, according to the Interfax news agency. “It’ll all depend on the army, on the servicemen, how loyal they prove to be.”
