CARACAS- According to Venezuelan news medium Diario Verdad de Vargas, President Nicolás Maduro has said he would be willing to sell oil and gas to the United States.

“I don’t like letting politics interfere with economics. They are two different things,” Maduro told the media.

Maduro’s announcement is on the one hand surprising, because the country has long been at odds with the United States and is seen as an ally of Russia. In addition, the government in Caracas itself has been the target of international sanctions for some time. These are mainly related to the lack of true democracy in the country.

On the other hand, Venezuela could use the extra petrodollars. On Saturday, Maduro was visited, for the first time in ages, by a US diplomatic mission to discuss the possible supply of oil by the South American country.

Reserves

With the oil price rising rapidly due to the potential loss of Russian oil, Venezuela, as the country with the largest oil reserves in the world, is suddenly in the spotlight again. It would be the US Of course, it would not be displeasing if Maduro and Venezuela find themselves back in the American camp in the face of global tensions.

OPEC, which also includes Venezuela, previously said it was unwilling to make additional supplies amid the tensions created by the Russian invasion of neighboring Ukraine.