(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump said Russia “needs to get out” of Venezuela after Vladimir Putin sent military planes and troops to an airport near Caracas over the weekend.
Trump made the comments Wednesday during a White House meeting with Fabiana Rosales, the wife of Juan Guaido, whom the U.S. and other nations have recognized as the legitimate leader of Venezuela.
While the U.S. is trying to pressure autocrat Nicolas Maduro to step down, Russia has continued to cultivate ties to the regime. Moments before Trump spoke, Vice President Mike Pence called on Russian President Putin to cease talks with Maduro and said Russia’s military move was “an unwelcome provocation.”
Trump said “all options are on the table,” language he has repeatedly used when asked whether he’s considering U.S. military intervention against Maduro.
Tensions between the U.S. and Russia escalated over the weekend when a Russian Ilyushin IL-62 passenger jet and an Antonov AN-124 military cargo plane arrived at the international airport outside Caracas on Saturday. Sputnik, a Russian state news outlet, cited unnamed embassy officials in Caracas to report that the troops and 35 tons of cargo under the command of General Vasily Tonkoshkurov arrived to “exchange consultations.”
A Venezuelan Information Ministry official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he isn’t authorized to comment publicly, said the visit was to perform maintenance on Russian military equipment the nation had purchased.
Secretary of State Michael Pompeo called his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, on Monday warning that the U.S. and its allies “will not stand idly by as Russia exacerbates tensions in Venezuela,” according to a statement. Lavrov told Pompeo that the U.S. is fomenting a “coup d’etat” against the Maduro government that violates the United Nations charter, the Foreign Ministry in Moscow said.
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