Russia offered to 'swap' Venezuela for Ukraine in 2019, Trump adviser testimony claims
During U.S. President Donald Trump's first term, Russian officials signaled they would be willing to let Washington pursue its interests freely in Venezuela if the U.S. let Moscow do the same in Ukraine, former Trump adviser Fiona Hill said in a 2019 congressional hearing.
Hill's comments have gained widespread attention in the aftermath of Trump's Jan. 3 attack on Venezuela and capture of dictator Nicolas Maduro, a Kremlin ally.
Years before the Venezuela attack, and before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin in April 2019 floated the possibility of giving up its influence in Venezuela for unimpeded control of Ukraine, according to Hill, then a senior adviser to Trump.
Russian officials "were signaling very strongly that they wanted to somehow make some very strange swap arrangement between Venezuela and Ukraine," Hill told lawmakers during a hearing in November 2019.
Moscow's overtures were "informal," Hill said, but the message was clear: "You know, you have your Monroe Doctrine. You want us out of your backyard. Well, you know, we have our own version of this. You're in our backyard in Ukraine."
Hill said she was sent to Russia to reject the proposal. However, seven years later, Trump invoked the Monroe Doctrine — an assertion that the U.S. has the right to economic domination of the Western Hemisphere — to justify his attack on Venezuela and the U.S. takeover of the country's oil industry.
Trump has claimed that the U.S. will now "run" Venezuela and commandeer its oil assets. Trump then announced on Jan. 6 that Venezuela would hand over up to 50 million barrels of sanctioned oil to the U.S.
"This oil will be sold at its market price, and that money will be controlled by me," Trump wrote on social media.
Trump has also demanded that Venezuela expel Russia, China, Iran, and Cuba, cutting economic ties with these nations before being allowed to pump more oil, according to sources who spoke to ABC News.
The White House has not responded to the Kyiv Independent's request for comment on these reports.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has not commented on the U.S. attack on Venezuela, though the the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement to the United Nations condemning U.S. aggression. Still, Moscow has done little to materially aid Venezuela in the wake of Maduro's capture.
Analysts have pointed out that Putin might be willing to exchange his influence in Latin America for the ability to expand his ambitions in Europe.
