Trump says to reverse; Putin, self-determination …

The President of the United States, Donald Trump, reiterated the need for a regime change in Venezuela with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, during an extensive phone call yesterday. The Russian president, for his part, stressed to Trump that "only Venezuelans have the right to determine the future of their country". And, as reported by the Kremlin spokesman, added that "external intervention in the nation's internal affairs, as well as attempts to change power by force, jeopardize the prospects of A political solution to the crisis ". In addition to an exchange of views on the current situation of the Caribbean country, the two leaders spoke of Ukraine, North Korea and a possible new nuclear agreement that may include China.

"I think it's a very positive conversation, the one I've had with President Putin about Venezuela," Trump told reporters he'd received at the White House. Then he added that Putin does not think about getting involved in Venezuela and concluded: "And I feel the same thing". In Venezuela, he continued, people are starving. They do not have water and they have no food.

Trump said three hours after White House National Security Advisor John Bolton said Maduro only clung to power thanks to military support from Russia and Cuba. "The United States will not tolerate any foreign military interference on the American continent." The US President has made it clear that those who encourage the usurpation and repression by Maduro will have a cost, wrote Bolton on Twitter and shortly thereafter , he added: "It's our hemisphere. This is not a place where the Russians must intervene. Bolton, along with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, are the main proponents of the campaign for self-proclaimed Venezuelan President Juan Guaidó, and according to the Washington Post, Bolton has had several clashes with the Pentagon because of his insistence on seeing himself present military plans to resolve the crisis.

The president's statements were then joined by her official spokesperson, Sarah Sanders, who was a bit more risky in her message: "All options are on the table". This statement answered the question of journalists who were wondering about the meeting that Pompeo and Boloton had yesterday to study the possible military options in Venezuela. "The president will do what is necessary," Sanders said, without giving further details.

In the meantime, the Kremlin press service also made its own statements and said the conversation was about the US initiative. "They spoke about the prospects for bilateral relations, focused on bilateral cooperation, and the presidents called for the development of mutually beneficial trade relations and investments," the Kremlin said in a statement. According to the document, both parties expressed their willingness to engage in a variety of areas, including strategic stability issues. In addition, the press service said Putin had informed Trump of the main results of the meeting held in Vladivostok on April 25 with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, and stressed that Pyongyang's compliance should be rewarded. sanctions "Both sides emphasized the importance of the gradual progress of denuclearization and long-term normalization on the Korean Peninsula," the Russian document says. The presidents also discussed the situation in Ukraine in the light of the recent presidential elections. "Putin stressed that the new Kiev authorities should take concrete steps to comply with the Minsk agreements, which are of paramount importance for the resolution of the internal conflict in Ukraine," the statement said.

To date, contacts between the United States and Russia to reconcile their positions have not worked. This week, Pompeo accused Russia of convincing Maduro not to leave the country, which Moscow denied. On Wednesday, Pompeo had a tense telephone conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. In this appeal, the secretary of state stressed to Lavrov that "the intervention of Russia and Cuba destabilized Venezuela and the bilateral relations between the United States and Russia", to which the Russian Minister responded by warning that Washington should restrict its "aggressive approach" to Venezuela.