"Very productive meeting this afternoon with members of the CITGO executive team," Bolton said via Twitter on Wednesday. "The United States is continuing to work to make sure that the economic benefits of Venezuela’s resources are not pilfered."
On Monday, the United States blocked all assets of PDVSA in its jurisdiction and imposed a ban on deals with the company. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters that by blocking PDVSA assets, Washington takes care of this company in the interests of the people of Venezuela and also takes measures to protect its own market.
"This US decision absolutely violates the norms of international law, it is an unlawful decision [made] in a bid to expropriate a Venezuelan asset, a Venezuelan company. That's what we're going to demonstrate. I am confident that we will emerge victorious [in this situation], protecting Citgo as the property of the Venezuelan people", Maduro said.
In turn, Russia, Cuba, China, Turkey and Iran have given Maduro's government full support, with Maduro himself calling Venezuela "the victim of a US conspiracy", referring to US Vice President Mike Pence promising Guaido "full American support" the day before he declared himself Venezuela's new head of state. Maduro also stressed that Venezuela had held legitimate elections and urged European countries to withdraw their demand.
READ MORE: Maduro: Bolton Prohibited Trump From Initiating Dialogue With Me (EXCLUSIVE)