U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday called on Russia to pull its troops from Venezuela and said that “all options” were open to make that happen. The arrival of two Russian air force planes outside Caracas on Saturday believed to be carrying nearly 100 Russian special forces and cyber-security personnel has escalated the political crisis in Venezuela.
United States president Donald Trump declared on Sunday that he had been “completely exonerated” after his campaign was cleared of colluding with Russia in the 2016 election, in a major boost for his re-election hopes.
Two Russian military planes landed in Venezuela's main airport on Saturday, reportedly carrying dozens of troops and large amounts of equipment. The planes were sent to “fulfill technical military contracts”, Russia's Sputnik news agency reported.
Thousands of people in Russia have protested against plans to introduce tighter restrictions on the internet. A mass rally in Moscow and similar demonstrations in two other cities were called after parliament backed the controversial bill last month.
The US government on Friday announced criminal charges against a top official in Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government for violating sanctions imposed two years ago, when the official was accused of drug trafficking.
The United States and Russia clashed on Friday over how to assist ailing Venezuela, with Moscow pledging new relief channelled through President Nicolas Maduro and Washington slapping sanctions over the blocking of US aid it tried to force through the border.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uruguay, Rodolfo Nin Novoa, ratified his position on Friday on a peaceful solution to the political and institutional crisis suffered by Venezuela along with his Italian counterpart, Enzo Moavero Milanesi in Montevideo. The Uruguayan chancellor questioned the attitude of the secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, considering that he took sides on the Venezuelan conflict.
Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez announced at a press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that the central office of state oil company PDVSA in Europe, located in Lisbon, will move to Moscow to guarantee the security of the country's assets abroad, which were delivered to the Venezuelan Parliament in other countries.
Dozens of orcas and beluga whales captured for sale to ocean aquariums have brought Russia's murky trade into the spotlight, but efforts to free them are blocked by government infighting.
Russian lender Gazprombank has frozen the accounts of Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA and halted transactions with the firm to reduce the risk of the bank falling under US sanctions, according to Reuters.