Russia says it hopes Trump does not make a 'fatal mistake' on Venezuela

**Original report from Reuters


MOSCOW, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Thursday it hoped that U.S. President Donald Trump's administration would not make a fatal mistake over Venezuela and said Moscow was concerned about U.S. decisions that threatened international shipping.

There has been an effective embargo in place after the U.S. seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela last week, with loaded vessels carrying millions of barrels of oil idling in Venezuelan waters rather than risk seizure.

"We note the continuous and deliberate escalation of tensions around Venezuela, a country friendly to us. Of particular concern is the unilateral nature of decisions that pose a threat to international shipping," the Russian ministry said in a statement.

"We hope that the D. Trump administration, which is characterised by a rational and pragmatic approach, will not make a fatal mistake."

MSN

 

[Margery]

I checked, the spokesman was low on the food chain in the Kremlin, at least as far as I recall from about a month or two back, last time I checked into who holds what position. I haven't actually been keeping up for the past 6 weeks. I think Lavrov is still the FM, and this spox is one of his lackeys.

Russia is just reminding the States that they are friends to both Venezuela and Cuba.

As always it's more important to see who is saying something, rather than the actual message itself.

 

[Cheeky200386]

I checked, the spokesman was low on the food chain in the Kremlin, at least as far as I recall from about a month or two back, last time I checked into who holds what position. I haven't actually been keeping up for the past 6 weeks. I think Lavrov is still the FM, and this spox is one of his lackeys.

Russia is just reminding the States that they are friends to both Venezuela and Cuba.

As always it's more important to see who is saying something, rather than the actual message itself.

Thank you for being our official Russian Translator. It is fascinating to understand their culture because I would never know any of this.