Venezuela President Maduro says 'united with US' in change of tone over Russia war

President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela, a staunch Russian ally and most vocal critic of the US, EU, and the West for hitting a barrage of financial and economic sanctions on Russia for invasion of Ukraine on Monday appeared to make a U-turn in his foreign policy, pledging support to the West in the Russian-Ukraine crisis. After Senior US officials flew to Venezuela to hold rare talks for breaking the country’s longstanding Russian influence, Nicolas Maduro’s government in a televised speech hurled praises on the United States delegation over discussion on ‘topics of interest.” 

'What they are doing with Russia is madness..': Maduro's past stance on West

In a change of tone after months of sabre-rattling over Ukraine, Maduro has now expressed worry about the escalating war between Russia and Ukraine, as he denounced the armed Russian aggression and appealed for a diplomatic path forward for the restoration of “peace.” Maduro had earlier iterated that  West’s act of sanctions on Russian people “is a crime” and “economic war,” as he had reaffirmed alliance with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.

Maduro slammed the US and the allied nations to NATO for cutting off Russian banks from the SWIFT international bank messaging system, banning the regime’s prospects of trade in the international market. "What they are doing with Russia is madness," Maduro had lashed out at a televised event.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, left, gestures as he speaks to Russian President Vladimir Putin during meeting at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside in Moscow, Russia. Credit: AP

Russia, for decades, has been a key ally of Maduro's leftist government and had presided over the economic collapse of the oil-rich nation due to the Western sanctions. Venezuela, in turn, along with other Latin American allies such as Cuba and Nicaragua all targeted by US sanctions had expressed "strong support" for Russia’s military intervention in Kyiv, according to a Kremlin statement.

Moscow also has an enhanced Russian military presence in Venezuela, and elsewhere in the Caribbean to counter NATO’s eastward expansion. Recently on February 16, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov visited Caracas, Havana and Managua underlined Maduro's government’s part in the Ukrainian invasion as the Russia allied nation is 6,500 miles from Kyiv. 

Russia’s Latin American ally, one of the firm backers of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, on Saturday, however, met with the White House and US state department negotiators, including White House adviser for Latin America, Juan González; and the United States ambassador to Venezuela, James Story in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas. He then appeared on state TV and confirmed that the meeting took place at the Miraflores Palace with Biden administration officials, in the presence of his political high command, the Council of Vice Presidents, the General Staff of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB), and the SEBIN. 

Jorge Rodríguez and Cilia Flores, the president of the Venezuelan national assembly sanctioned by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and others from Maduro’s inner circle attended the meeting. The US had slapped crippling sanctions on Maduro’s political counterparts as it did not recognize Maduro's 2018 reelection and accused the South American nation of election fraud and stifling the democratic setup. Venezuela’s Executive Vice President Tarek El Aissami (El Aissami) and Cabello — as well as front-men like Rafael Sarria, have all been hit by Russia like western sanctions.

Venezuela's PDVSA offices relocated from Lisbon to Moscow vulnerable to West’s sanctions

Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro administration had relocated Venezuelan state-owned oil and natural gas company PDVSA's offices in Lisbon to Moscow during the acute political crisis to secure its assets, but now, as the round of sanctions imposed by Western countries weighs on Russia, Moscow's allies in Latin America Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua are just as a worse hit. Especially after the European Union cut off at least seven Russian financial institutions from the SWIFT international payments network. Venezuela had been running on the Russian financial system and the West’s sanctions now threaten its ability to make transactions and cash provisions as the revenues from the oil sales are first converted to dollars. 

Credit: AP

As he held talks with the US, Maduro appeared to change his stance on the Russia Ukraine war, as he said that his officials held talks with the US delegation. “They know all the details, everything that was discussed, topics of interest that we have agreed to work on an agenda going forward, “Maduro, whose regime the United States severed ties in 2019, said. He then stressed that the meeting with the US was "respectful, cordial, very diplomatic" and added that the flags of the United States and Venezuela "must be united.”

The Latin American leader continued, that he ratified "all the will to, from diplomacy, respect and the greatest hope for a better world, be able to move forward in an agenda that allows the well-being and peace of the peoples of our hemisphere, of entire America”. 

Venezuela to start dialogue process on Ukraine and Russia's war; US may be new energy partner

Maduro announced that Venezuela will start a dialogue process on Ukraine and Russia's war with the United States and the West in Mexico, with the mediation of Norway, an EU nation. "If we are asking for dialogue for the world (Ukraine and Russia), we have to set the example," he said while announcing that there will be "a reformatting" and a "dynamization" of the negotiation process.

He went on to add: “We [Venezuela] are going to a more inclusive, more comprehensive, broader dialogue process, which reaches out to all Venezuelans who want to move our country forward, and which gives all the political guarantees to the coming processes in the years to come. they are marked from now on, there are special marked years, and all guarantees must be given.”

Maduro also appeared to incline towards the West away from Russia, as he iterated that his nation has been evaluating the strategic intelligence situation in Ukraine, and “with great sincerity and with the desire for peace in the world, we have to express that we are seriously concerned about the possibility of a war in Europe and an extension to other regions of the world.” 

“We are in a very dangerous moment and the political and military high command of Venezuela has decided that we ring the alert bell to the peoples and leaders of the world, to seek peace, to seek conditions that allow truly solid agreements in the negotiation process. between Russia and Ukraine,” said Maduro. 

It is also being speculated that President Nicolas Maduro’s change of tone could be attributed to Washington’s discussion of relying on the Latin American for energy supplies as it seeks to reduce its oil imports of Russia. “As it relates to Venezuela, the purpose of the trip that was taken by administration officials was to discuss a range of issues including certain energy, energy security,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters.