MOSCOW, Jan 13 (Reuters) – Moscow said on Tuesday oil assets developed by Russia in Venezuela belong to Russia and Russia will continue to work there, after U.S. President Donald Trump claimed control of the South American country.
According to the TASS news agency, the Russian company Roszarubezhneft stated that all its assets in Venezuela are Russian property and will abide by its commitments to local international partners.
Roszarubezhneft, a unit of Russia’s Ministry of Economic Development, was founded in 2020 and acquired Russian state oil company Rosneft’s stake in Venezuela shortly after Washington imposed sanctions on two of Rosneft’s subsidiaries at the time for trading Venezuelan oil.
According to the TASS news agency, all Roszarubezhneft’s assets in Venezuela “are the property of the Russian state” and are in compliance with Venezuelan law, international law and agreements between the two countries.
Putin has yet to comment publicly on Maduro’s arrest
After arresting and imprisoning Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, Trump publicly pledged to work with U.S. oil companies to take control of Venezuela’s vast oil reserves, the world’s largest, describing Maduro as a drug-trafficking dictator in cahoots with Washington’s enemies.
Maduro has pleaded not guilty.
The United States also seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker linked to Venezuela after a weeks-long manhunt.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has yet to comment publicly on U.S. actions in Venezuela, but the Russian Foreign Ministry has urged Trump to release Maduro and called for dialogue.
Russia has long maintained close ties with Venezuela, spanning energy cooperation, military ties and high-level political contacts, and Moscow has been diplomatically supporting Caracas for years.
In November, Venezuela’s National Assembly approved a 15-year extension of a joint venture between state company PDVSA and a unit of Russia’s Roszarubezhneft that operates two oil fields in the western region of the South American country.
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin and Marina Bobrova; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Bernadette Baum)