'Second major signal to Moscow': politician on Washington's shift in strategy

Russian opposition politician Mark Feygin expressed this opinion on Espreso TV.

"I'll say frankly that I didn't expect such deftness from Trump. Because everything that happened over the past year gave reason to think he had, at minimum, a wait-and-see position, but essentially a losing position, yielding to Putin, appeasing him, groveling before him. The special operation to arrest and send Maduro to the United States and the detention of the tanker Marinera — I honestly didn't expect this at all. This is evidence that Washington's tactics and strategy have changed. After this, it will be very difficult to go back to 'Putin is good,' 'your house was shelled,' or anything else. I no longer see this game of submissiveness," Mark Feygin commented.

In his opinion, a second serious signal toward Moscow has now occurred in succession. Regarding the tanker detention, Russia tried to spin it in their favor, saying the vessel was empty and why detain it. The Russians sent a submarine and some ships, but American military personnel boarded the tanker. This is a spit right in Putin's mouth — that's how it can be interpreted.

"Not only was Maduro taken and brought to a district court in New York, but they also applied pressure. This is against the backdrop of new information that the Venezuelan leadership, that Rodriguez woman who assumed the duties of acting president of Venezuela, was given an ultimatum — no China, no Moscow, no Cuba. By the way, unlike many forecasters, I believe that's exactly what they'll do, they'll be very cautious," the politician noted.

Feygin added that since summer there had been an agreement with Chevron (clearly Washington's pressure) regarding Lake Maracaibo, where cleanup work is already underway so that those 30-50 million barrels of oil that Trump talks about can already be exported. Overall, the entire oil industry there is experiencing gigantic problems because it's the legacy of American companies — there are no spare parts, nothing. Now Chevron has apparently undertaken to clean up the "Augean stables."

• On January 9, U.S. President Donald Trump stated that he is "firmly convinced" Russia will not invade Ukraine again, because otherwise he would not have committed to security guarantees for Kyiv.