Washington, DC [US], February 1 (ANI): US President Donald Trump said that China is “welcome” to buy Venezuelan oil and claimed that India has already made a deal to purchase oil from Venezuela.
Addressing reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said, “China is welcome to come in and make a great deal on oil. We’ve already made a deal. India is coming in, and they’re going to be buying Venezuelan oil as opposed to buying it from Iran. So we’ve already made the concept of the deal.”
Repeating his remarks, Trump added that India would be purchasing Venezuelan oil under an arrangement already agreed upon, while reiterating that China is free to enter similar negotiations.
The Indian government has not yet responded to Trump’s comments.
Earlier, Trump said that Venezuela had offered Washington 50 million barrels of oil worth USD 5.2 billion, an offer he said the United States had accepted. Speaking to the press during an event marking the renaming of Southern Boulevard to Donald Trump Boulevard, he said Venezuela needed the oil processed immediately due to storage constraints.
“We’re dealing with the new President. We’re dealing with a lot of the people who are running the country. They said we have 50 million barrels of oil, and we have to get it processed immediately because we have no room. Will you take it? I said, we’ll take it. It’s equivalent to USD 5.2 billion,” Trump said.
Trump also praised what he described as a “great relationship” with the Venezuelan interim government, which was formed after the United States captured former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a military operation.
“We’ve had a great relationship with the people who are currently the interim president and everybody else. A lot of pressure has been released,” he said.
Following Maduro’s capture, Trump said Washington would oversee Venezuela during a transition period and would require total access to the country’s oil and other resources.
Trump’s remarks also appeared to confirm a recent report by New York-based news outlet Semafor, which said the United States had made its first sale of Venezuelan oil valued at USD 500 million. According to the report, revenue from the oil sales is being held in bank accounts controlled by the US government, with the main account located in Qatar, citing senior administration officials.
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