Russia reportedly offered U.S. free rein in Venezuela for a free hand in Ukraine

Moscow’s mixed reaction to the U.S. intervention in Venezuela has revived a reported exchange offer from 2019, when Russia signaled it would allow the United States freedom of action in Venezuela in return for a free hand in Ukraine, according to Congressional testimony by Fiona Hill.

Ms. Hill, who ran Russian and European affairs on the National Security Council during the first Trump administration, told a 2019 hearing that the Russians “were signaling very strongly that they wanted to somehow make some very strange swap arrangement between Venezuela and Ukraine.” She said the proposals were informal, conveyed through commentators and newspaper articles, and that she went to Moscow in person to reject the idea.

The outreach came amid tensions that prompted Moscow to deploy 100 military personnel and new weapons to shore up President Nicolás Maduro. Mr. Maduro’s removal has been described as another blow to a regime supported by Moscow, following the toppling of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria a little over a year earlier.

Officially the Russian foreign ministry called the U.S. move a violation of international law, but the Kremlin’s main priority remains the war in Ukraine, where the Trump administration is trying to negotiate peace. The Kremlin has sought a balance between not making major concessions on Ukraine and not alienating the White House, and some senior Russian officials and commentators have welcomed what they see as a U.S.

Key Topics

World, Russia, Venezuela, Ukraine, Fiona Hill, Nicolás Maduro