CARACAS/WASHINGTON (Dispatches) -- U.S. and Venezuelan officials discussed the possibility of easing oil sanctions on Venezuela but made scant progress toward a deal in their first high-level bilateral talks in years, reports said, as Washington seeks to separate Russia from one of its key allies.
Both sides used their meeting in Caracas to present what one of the sources described as “maximalist” demands, reflecting longtime tensions between the Western Hemisphere’s main power and one of its biggest ideological foes.
A U.S. delegation led by Juan Gonzalez - the top White House Latin America adviser - and Ambassador James Story held talks at the Miraflores palace with President Nicolas Maduro and his Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, Reuters said, quoting sources familiar with the matter.
U.S. officials saw the meeting as a chance to gauge whether Venezuela, one of Russia’s closest Latin American allies, is prepared to distance itself from President Vladimir Putin over his military action in Ukraine, a source in Washington said.
Washington also wants to identify alternative oil supplies to fill the gap if it seeks a boycott of Moscow’s energy industry. Venezuela could boost crude exports if Washington eases sanctions.
The U.S. willingness to re-engage after years of shunning such contact appeared to be a boost for Maduro, Reuters said.
The meeting came as Venezuela’s financial lifeline to Russia is fraying under sanctions on Moscow following its military onslaught in Ukraine, which Russia calls a “special operation”. Caracas used the talks to press for U.S. sanctions relief.
Venezuela has asked Russia in recent days to unfreeze oil proceeds at several Russian banks blacklisted by the United States, especially the Promsvyazbank (PSB), where Venezuela’s state-run oil company PDVSA and the Defense Ministry have bank accounts, two separate sources said.
In 2019, as part of U.S. sanctions on Venezuela, another bank widely used for trade with Russia, the Evrofinance Mosnarbank, was blacklisted, forcing PDVSA to move its collecting accounts to other banks.
In the talks, Washington sought guarantees of broad reforms of Venezuela’s oil industry to facilitate production and exports by foreign firms and the government’s public condemnation of the Ukraine operation, which Maduro has defended, three people familiar with the matter said.
As a concession, the U.S. officials were willing to consider temporarily allowing Venezuela to use the SWIFT system, which facilitates financial transactions between banks worldwide, to move money to other accounts, one of the sources said.
Maduro sought a total lifting of sanctions prohibiting Venezuela’s oil exports, the removal of sanctions on him and other Venezuelan officials and the return to the state’s control of PDVSA’s U.S. subsidiary Citgo Petroleum, sources said.