The US president's National Security Adviser John Bolton has taken to Twitter to accuse Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of allegedly misusing the country's money. Bolton claimed that Maduro paid $209 million to Russia under a defence contract to "buy" Moscow's support and once again called for the elected president to resign.
However, the national security adviser failed to present details on the alleged defence contract between Venezuela and Russia. Moscow hasn't commented on his claims yet. The two countries have signed contracts on the supply of military equipment to the Latin American state in the past, but these deals were fulfilled long before Venezuela was struck by economic and political instability.
Head of the Russian state corporation Rostec Sergei Chemezov said at the SPIEF 2019 that although Caracas is interested in buying new military equipment from Moscow, it can't afford to do so right now due to economic problems and US sanctions.
Deputy Director of Russia's Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSMTC) Anatoly Punchuk recently said that new military contracts between the two states are unlikely to be signed in the near future due to the harsh economic conditions in Venezuela, which have partially been caused by American sanctions.
Many Twitterians immediately accused Bolton of just spreading another lie aimed at undermining Maduro's position.
Some added that despite what Bolton says, Venezuela and Maduro will do just fine.
Others argued that Bolton doesn’t want justice or a "fair" president for Venezuela, but rather to start another war for the US.
Some social media users, however, agreed with Bolton.
Several people called on the US to stop talking and instead organise a military intervention in Venezuela, something that Washington hasn't ruled out in official statements.
Previously, Moscow has defended the presence of its specialists in Venezuela carrying out maintenance on Russian-made equipment, something which has prompted criticism from Washington. The Kremlin has noted that as sovereign states, Russia and Venezuela have the right to sign bilateral defence contracts and that other countries should keep their concerns to themselves.