Russia denied President Trump’s claim that Russia told the U.S. it had “removed most of their people” from Venezuela.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov pushed back on Trump’s statement Tuesday, telling reporters that he didn’t know what Trump was referring to.
“There have been no official messages in this regard from the Russian side nor could there be any,” Peskov said.
“We don’t know what ‘removed most of their people’ means,” said Peskov. “In fact, there are specialists there who service the hardware shipped to Venezuela earlier. This process is going in an orderly manner.”
Trump had sent out a one-sentence tweet Monday that read, “Russia has informed us that they have removed most of their people from Venezuela.”
Russia has informed us that they have removed most of their people from Venezuela.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 3, 2019
Peskov said Trump might have been referring to a report by the Wall Street Journal that Russian state-defense contractor Rostec had significantly cut its staff presence in Venezuela. Rostec denied the report.
The U.S. and Russia are at odds over the government in Venezuela. The U.S. recognizes Juan Guaidó, the president of the National Assembly, as the country’s rightful leader, while Russia still supports strongman Nicolás Maduro, who has been attempting to hold onto power as Venezuelan citizens languish under the collapsing economy.
In March, two Russian military planes landed in Venezuela carrying about 100 Russian special forces and cybersecurity experts.
The U.S. says it hopes that Maduro will be ousted peacefully but has left other options, including military force, on the table.
