Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro and Russian President Vladimir Putin. File photoMOSCOW, Apr 20 US President Joe Biden plans to drive a wedge between Russian leader Vladimir Putin and his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro amid the military operation in Ukraine, writes the British magazine Economist. The author of the article explained that The White House intends to make up for the losses from the embargo on Russian oil, which will come into force on April 22, thanks to the supply of fuel from Venezuela. To do this, the United States would need to lift its current total ban on Venezuelan oil imports. However, there may be political goals behind this move. «If Joe Biden intends to achieve a détente in relations with Venezuela, it will not only be for economic reasons. He probably hopes to use the military operation in Ukraine to drive a wedge between Venezuela and Russia , which Moscow considers one of its closest allies,» the article says. The Economist observer believes that Maduro will make it difficult for Washington to implement this idea. In his opinion, Caracas will not agree to help the West on someone else's terms. «If a deal is made, it will not be entirely on Biden's terms,» the author of the publication concluded. On February 24, Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine. According to the Ministry of Defense, the Russian Armed Forces strike only at the military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops and have already completed the main tasks of the first stage — they significantly reduced the combat potential of Ukraine. The military department called the liberation of Donbass the main goal of the operation.
