WASHINGTON/MOSCOW — US President Donald Trump said he “had a long call” with Venezuelan acting President Delcy Rodriguez on Wednesday and the two countries are “getting along very well.”
“We just had a great conversation today, and she’s a terrific person,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
“We had a long call, we discussed a lot of things, and I think we’re getting along very well with Venezuela,” Trump said.
Rodriguez also said Wednesday that she held a “long, productive and courteous” telephone conversation with Trump. “During the call, we addressed a bilateral working agenda for the benefit of our peoples, as well as pending issues in the relationship between our governments,” she said.
Rodriguez plans to send an envoy, Venezuelan Ambassador to Britain Felix Plasencia, to visit Washington this week as the Trump administration is weighing the possibility of reopening its embassy in the oil-rich South American nation, according to a Bloomberg report on Tuesday.
Maria Corina Machado, one of Venezuela’s major opposition figures, is expected to visit the White House on the same day.
The US military seized the fifth oil tanker linked to Venezuela on Friday as a team of US diplomats and security personnel arrived in Caracas to assess the possibility of reopening the US embassy there, days after Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was taken by force in a US raid on Jan 3.
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said last week that the United States will not only market stored oil in Venezuela but also control the sales of oil output from the country indefinitely.
Putin, Lula exchange views on Venezuela situation
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday exchanged views in a phone call on current international issues, with a focus on the situation in Venezuela, according to the Kremlin.
The two leaders emphasized that they share similar positions on safeguarding Venezuela’s sovereignty and national interests, the Kremlin said in a news release.
They agreed to further strengthen coordination under frameworks such as the United Nations and BRICS to promote the de-escalation of tensions in Latin America and other regions, the Kremlin said.