December 11, Pozirk. Alaksandar Łukašenka received Jesus Rafael Salazar Velazques, the Venezuelan ambassador in Moscow, in Minsk today, shortly after their November 25 meeting.
“Just recently, we discussed a number of issues in our relations, the situation around Venezuela,” the Belarusian ruler’s press office quoted him as saying. “We agreed then that you should coordinate some issues with the Venezuelan leadership — Nicolas Maduro. We agreed that . . . you would find time to meet again so that we could make an appropriate decision, which is within our competence. If necessary, we will then involve the president of Venezuela.”
Łukašenka did not specify what decision he was referring to. Last month, he invited Maduro to visit Belarus and promised to find time to visit Venezuela.
The meeting comes hours after US forces have seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela over alleged violations of sanctions. Caracas swiftly denounced the action, calling it an act of “international piracy.” Earlier, President Maduro declared that Venezuela would never become an “oil colony.”
The Belarusian strongman has not yet commented on the incident, but last month he condemned “any aggressive actions against independent Venezuela that unjustifiably strain the regional situation in the Caribbean and Latin America.”
Maduro faces mounting pressure from Washington amid a US military buildup in the Caribbean and strikes on small Venezuelan vessels accused of shipping drugs.
US President Donald Trump had said he had not ruled out deploying ground forces to the South American country. Washington accused the Venezuelan ruler of involvement in drug trafficking, an allegation he denied.
