New US sanctions against Venezuelan state-owned PDVSA energy company pose no risks for the cooperation of Venezuela and Russia, country’s President Nicolas Maduro.
“There are no risks, because Russia is an independent and sovereign state. Russian enterprises are very powerful and they possess own engineering staff, finance, logistics. PDVSA is an enterprise of the sovereign state. Russia and Venezuela are two sovereign states that do business, invest and implement huge oil production projects. Everything will be fine, it is protected by armor — business between Russia and Venezuela in oil and gas sector”, Maduro said.
He added that Caracas would will meet its financial obligations to Moscow and Beijing. Maduro also noted that Caracas expected support of Russia and China in economic development of Venezuela.
On Monday, the United States blocked all assets of PDVSA in its jurisdiction and imposed ban on deals with the company. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters that by blocking PDVSA assets, the United States takes care of this company in the interests of the people of Venezuela and also takes measures to protect its own market.