Russia once suggested allowing the US more freedom in Venezuela in exchange for a softer American stance on Ukraine, as per Fiona Hill’s seven-year-old congressional testimony. This revelation, highlighted in a New York Times report, dates back to Hill’s 2019 testimony during her tenure as the National Security Council’s senior director for Russian and European affairs under the first Trump administration.
Hill detailed strong Russian signals, often in public forums, indicating a potential link between US policies in Venezuela and Russia’s interests in Ukraine. The Russians implied a peculiar exchange between Venezuela and Ukraine during a period of heightened tensions in early 2019, with the US invoking the Monroe Doctrine in Venezuela while Moscow emphasized its interests in Ukraine.
According to Hill, these signals were not part of formal diplomatic proposals but were conveyed through public statements and media coverage. She mentioned that Russian officials discussed the matter openly, even prompting questions at a US State Department press briefing about potential trade-offs between Venezuela and Ukraine.
The episode, although not leading to a formal agreement, sheds light on Russia’s strategic calculations and its attempt to intertwine Venezuela and Ukraine in the geopolitical arena. Hill’s rejection of the proposed swap reflects a broader pattern where Moscow aimed to shape global politics based on reciprocal spheres of influence, contrasting it with US policy approaches.
