WASHINGTON, January 7. /TASS/. The White House hopes that President Donald Trump will be able to continue good "personal relationships" with Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Xi Jinping of China, despite Washington’s actions against Venezuela, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
"I think the President has very open, honest and good relations with both President Putin of Russia and President Xi of China. He has spoken with them numerous times, as you know, since coming to office about a year ago, and I believe that those personal relationships are going to continue," she told a briefing when asked hos the United States’ actions against Venezuela and the seizure by the US of the Russian-flagged Marinera tanker could impact Washington’s relations with Moscow and Beijing.
Nevertheless, according to Leavitt, Trump is going to "enforce our policy that’s best for the United States of America." "And with respect to these ships’ seizure, that means enforcing the embargo against all dark fleet vessels that are illegally transporting [Venezuelan] oil. <…> and only legitimate commerce determined by the United States is going to be permitted," she said.
"That’s the policy of this administration, and he (Trump - TASS) is not afraid ti implement it," she stressed.
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil Pinto said on January 3 that the United States had attacked civilian and military facilities in Caracas. He condemned Washington’s actions as a military aggression. A state of emergency has been imposed in Venezuela. US President Donald Trump has confirmed the attack on Venezuela. According to the US leader, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife have been captures and taken out of the country. They were later brought to the United States and are held in a detention facility in Brooklyn, southern New York. On January 5, Maduro and his wife appeared before the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. US authorities accuse them of involvement in drug trafficking, allegations both defendants have denied.
Trump also claimed that the United States would assume interim governance of Venezuela. In addition, the US president expressed confidence that Washington would secure compensation from Caracas for US oil companies. Trump said Venezuela's interim government would be "turning over" between 30 and 50 million barrels of "high quality" oil to the US.