Russia has warned Donald Trump to keep the U.S. military away from Venezuela—a close Kremlin ally—or run the risk of “catastrophe.” Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president on Wednesday and immediately won Washington’s backing. Nicolas Maduro, who has led the Venezuela since 2013, then severed diplomatic ties with the U.S. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Moscow has thrown its support behind Maduro and directly warned the U.S. against military intervention. “We consider that would be a catastrophic scenario that would shake the foundations of the development model which we see in Latin America,” said Ryabkov. He went on: “Venezuela is friendly to us and is our strategic partner... We have supported them and will support them.” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that outside interference in the country was “unacceptable” and that the prospect of military intervention from the U.S. was very dangerous. Maduro on Wednesday gave U.S. diplomats 72 hours to get out of Caracas, but Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the Trump administration would not accept that demand. He warned the Venezuelan military to protect U.S. personnel or threatened the country would face “appropriate actions.”
