Senior U.S. officials traveled to Russia’s ally Venezuela on Saturday to meet with the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, people familiar with the matter told The New York Times.
Sources told the Times that a delegation, which includes senior State Department and White House officials, is on its way to the Venezuelan capital of Caracas.
It is not yet known how long the officials will stay in Venezuela and with whom they will meet.
It comes as Venezuela and Russia’s other Latin American allies Nicaragua and Cuba abstained or did not vote on United Nations resolutions condemning Russian aggression this week, according to the Times, indicating the countries may be distancing themselves from the ongoing Russian invasion. to Ukraine.
Maduro also signaled he was ready to restart Venezuela’s oil trade with the US in his capacity as President Biden.
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“Here lies Venezuelan oil, which is available to anyone who wants to extract and buy it, whether an investor from Asia, Europe or the United States,” Maduro said on Thursday, according to the Times.
As noted by the Times, this will be the highest meeting between the United States and Venezuela in the capital of Venezuela in recent years.
Venezuela and the United States severed all diplomatic relations in 2019 after the Trump administration recognized opposition leader Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s interim president after Maduro received a second term in an election deemed illegitimate by much of the international community.
The Trump administration then imposed sanctions on individuals associated with the Maduro government and on companies involved in the export of Venezuelan oil to provoke regime change in the country.
In response to the sanctions, Venezuela turned to Russia, as well as Iran and China, for diplomatic and economic assistance, the Times reported. Since then, Russian energy companies and banks have played an important role in Venezuela’s oil exports.
The Hill has reached out to the State Department and the White House for comment.