Trump says he would consider meeting Venezuela's Maduro

President Donald Trump said in an interview published on Sunday that he would consider meeting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and played down his earlier decision to recognize opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country’s legitimate leader, Reuters reports. 

“I would maybe think about that. ... Maduro would like to meet. And I’m never opposed to meetings,” Trump told online news site Axios on Friday, a move that would upend his “maximum pressure” campaign aimed at ousting the Socialist president.

“But at this moment, I’ve turned them down,” Trump added.

Trump had expressed an openness in 2018 to meeting Maduro, who had also made overtures for talks, but nothing materialized and the United States instead ratcheted up the pressure.

But Trump’s latest comments were possibly the clearest sign yet of what some U.S. officials have privately said was growing frustration over his administration’s failure to unseat Maduro through sanctions and diplomacy.

Trump also indicated flagging confidence in Guaido. The United States and most other Western countries have recognized Guaido as the OPEC nation’s interim president since January last year, regarding Maduro’s 2018 re-election as a sham.

News.Az 

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