Putin not ‘involved’ in Venezuela, says Trump

Bloomberg

Donald Trump said that Russian President Vladimir Putin isn’t seeking to “get involved” in the crisis in Venezuela, despite assertions by the American president’s top national security advisers that the Kremlin is offering critical support to Nicolas Maduro’s regime.
“He is not looking at all to get involved in Venezuela other than he’d like to see something positive happen for Venezuela,” Trump told reporters at the White House, following a call with the Russian leader earlier in the day. “And I feel the same way. We want to get some humanitarian aid — right now people are starving, they have no water, they have no food.”
The conversation, which Trump went on to describe as “very positive,” appeared to be yet another example of Trump taking Putin’s claims at face value despite contrary evidence from his own government. The Kremlin has denied that the Russian government persuaded Maduro to stay in Caracas.