Trump said Russia was getting out of Venezuela. The Kremlin says that's not true.

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Washington Post

By Amie Ferris-Rotman and
Anton Troianovski June 4 at 9:19 AM

MOSCOW — The Kremlin on Tuesday denied having told the United States that it was pulling personnel out of Venezuela, contradicting a Twitter posting a day earlier by President Trump.

“There have been no official messages in this regard from the Russian side nor could there be any,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

. . .

Moscow is a primary backer of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. National security adviser John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have charged that Russia has boosted its military, diplomatic and economic support to Maduro in the face of U.S. efforts to oust him.

. . .

Russian officials have insisted that the country’s stance on Venezuela hasn’t changed. Moscow refers to Maduro as the legitimate president of the Venezuela, a key Russian ally in the Western Hemisphere. It describes American support for Juan Guaidó, the leader of Venezuela’s elected National Assembly whom the United States recognizes as interim president, as illegal interfering in Venezuela’s internal affairs.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/trump-said-russia-was-getting-out-of-venezuela-the-kremlin-says-thats-not-true/2019/06/04/a069bd5a-86bc-11e9-9d73-e2ba6bbf1b9b_story.html?utm_term=.e88e3951c90c

[mr_lebowski]

1. Trump ... LYING?!? Who'd have thunk it ...

Anyone think IQ45 is going to DO jack shit about it?

Me neither ...

[Bernardo de La Paz]

4. Lying, no.

He's clueless.

Do not ascribe to malice that which can be explained by incompetence.

[still_one]

2. OH my, I'm really not sure who to believe

[Perseus]

3. I can't read the article because I am not a member of the WP, question...

Was it the buffoon who said that first, that Russia was leaving Venezuela? Did he make that up?

[Achilleaze]

5. republican hero Dirty Donny* lies again

and again, and again.

* republican Draft-Dodger-in-chief

[FiveGoodMen]

6. Which is EXACTLY what makes him a republican hero

[Judi Lynn]

7. Kremlin dismisses Trump tweet on alleged Venezuela withdrawal

JUNE 4, 2019 / 4:30 AM / UPDATED 19 HOURS AGO
Kremlin dismisses Trump tweet on alleged Venezuela withdrawal
Andrew Osborn, Tom Balmforth
3 MIN READ

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Tuesday it didn’t know where U.S. President Donald Trump had got the idea Moscow had removed most of its military specialists from Venezuela, who it said continued to work there.

. . .

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, however, told reporters that Moscow had not been in touch with Trump on the subject. He said Trump had apparently got his information from newspaper reports, which Russian officials have already denied, or from somewhere else.

Rostec said the Journal overstated how much staff it had previously had in Venezuela by a factor of “dozens” and that its permanent staff in the nation had been the same for years.

. . .

Trump’s tweet followed a Wall Street Journal article on Sunday that said Russian state defense contractor Rostec had cut its staff in Venezuela to just a few dozen, citing a person close to the Russian defense ministry.

Rostec said the report had exaggerated the number of staff it had in Venezuela “dozens times over,” that the number of permanent staff there had remained unchanged for years, and that technical staff rotated in and out of the country to repair and service military hardware.

More:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-politics-trump-kremlin/kremlin-contradicts-trump-statement-on-alleged-venezuela-drawdown-idUSKCN1T511S

~ ~ ~

Kremlin contradicts Trump on personnel in Venezuela
BY ZACK BUDRYK - 06/04/19 09:42 AM EDT

Russian officials on Tuesday contradicted an announcement from President Trump that the Kremlin has “removed most of their people” from Venezuela, Reuters reported.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters this week that most of its military specialists were still working in Venezuela, despite Trump's tweet on Monday that Russia told the U.S. otherwise.

“By all appearances, it’s a circumstantial reference to newspaper sources of information, because there was no official message about this from the Russian side and there couldn’t be one,” Peskov said, according to Reuters. “There really are [Russian] specialists who service hardware that’s been previously delivered and that process is going according to plan.”

Trump tweeted his claim Monday after The Wall Street Journal reported that Russian defense contractor Rostec had reduced staff in the South American nation to a few dozen, according to Reuters.

Rostec said the Journal overstated how much staff it had previously had in Venezuela by a factor of “dozens” and that its permanent staff in the nation had been the same for years.

More:
https://thehill.com/policy/international/russia/446803-kremlin-contradicts-trump-on-personnel-in-venezuela