Russian officials hinted as early as 2019 that the Kremlin would be ready to give up its support for Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela in exchange for freedom of action in Ukraine, said Fiona Hill, an adviser to US President Donald Trump at the time, quoted by the Associated Press, BTA reported.
According to her, the Russians have repeatedly promoted the idea of a "multilateral exchange-type deal involving Venezuela and Ukraine", as she said during a congressional hearing in 2019.
Her comments from 7 years ago again became the subject of attention this week and were shared on social networks after the US operation to remove Maduro from Venezuela.
Hill said that Russia has been pushing this idea through publications in the Russian media, which refer to the "Monroe" doctrine - a 19th century principle according to which the United States opposes European intervention in the Western Hemisphere, and in return refrains from interfering in European affairs. Trump has used this doctrine to justify U.S. intervention in Venezuela.
While Russian officials have never made a formal proposal, then-Russian ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov has repeatedly suggested that Moscow was willing to let Washington do as it saw fit in Venezuela if the United States did the same for Russia in Europe, Hill told The Associated Press this week.
"Initially there was a "wink, nudge, what if we make a deal?" but then nobody (in the United States) showed interest," she said.
In April 2019, Trump sent Hill - then his senior adviser on Russia and Europe - to Moscow to convey this position. She said she told Russian officials that "Ukraine and Venezuela have nothing in common".
At the time, the White House was in agreement with its allies in recognizing Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country's interim president. Seven years later, however, the situation is different.
After Maduro's ouster, the United States said it would now "lead" policy toward Venezuela. Trump also renewed his threats to take control of Greenland - an autonomous territory of Denmark and part of NATO - and to take military action against Colombia.
The Kremlin would be "delighted" by the idea that major powers – like Russia, the United States and China, are dividing up spheres of influence, as it proves the principle that law is a product of force, Hill said.
She said Trump's actions in Venezuela make it difficult for Kiev's allies to condemn Russia's claims to Ukraine as "illegitimate", because "we have just witnessed a situation in which the United States took control – or at least overthrew the government, of another country, using a legal construct that does not reflect reality," she told the AP.
The Trump administration has characterized the operation in Venezuela as a law enforcement action and said that the overthrow of Maduro was legal. The Russian Foreign Ministry has not yet commented on Hill's allegations. Russian President Vladimir Putin has also not commented on the military operation against Maduro, but the Foreign Ministry has issued statements condemning "American aggression".