Russia's largest oil producer, Rosneft (ROSN.MM), said on Saturday it had terminated operations in Venezuela and sold the assets linked to its operations in the South American nation to an unnamed company wholly owned by the Russian government.

By withdrawing from Venezuela and passing its assets to an entity owned by Moscow, Rosneft, headed by Igor Sechin, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, made the move intended to shield Russia's largest oil producer from U.S. sanctions in the wake of a U.S. narcotics indictment Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Rosneft said in a statement that "all assets and trading operations of Rosneft in Venezuela and/or connected with Venezuela will be disposed of, terminated or liquidated."

It is not clear how this move would impact the Rosneft's upstream joint ventures and Venezuelan state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), while the oil prices are languishing at around 25 U.S. dollars at this time.

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The U.S. government has ramped up pressure on Maduro's government, including imposing sanctions on two Swiss-based Rosneft units, Rosneft Trading and TNK Trading International. Washington said those companies are providing PDVSA a lifeline by acting as intermediaries for its crude.

The move comes at a critical time for Maduro's government. The spread of the coronavirus threatens to overwhelm Venezuela's already collapsed health system while depriving its crippled economy of oil revenue on which it almost exclusively depends for hard currency.

Maduro said during a call Saturday on a state television program that Putin had assured him of Moscow's "comprehensive, strategic support" to Venezuela "in all areas." He said the message was relayed by Russia's ambassador to Caracas.

Russia, via the state company Rosneftegaz, owns over 50 percent of Rosneft's capital. Qatar via QH Oil Investments LLC, owns another 18.93 percent, other international shareholders include BP (BP.L), has 19.75 percent.

The change of ownership announced on Saturday means any future U.S. sanctions on Russian-controlled oil operations in Venezuela would target the Russian government directly.

Rosneft spokesman Mikhail Leontiyev told Reuters the decision to terminate operations in Venezuela was meant to protect the company's shareholders.

"We defended the interests of our shareholders and did it in an effective way," Leontiyev said. "And to whom the risks go is not an issue for us. The main thing is that the risks are leaving us."

Rosneft would not disclose the name of the company to which it had sold its Venezuelan operations. A spokesman for the Russian government confirmed it had purchased Rosneft's operations in Venezuela, but declined to say what company was involved in the deal.

Rosneft Trading and TNK took more than a third of Venezuela's oil exports in 2019, allowing PDVSA to continue crude shipments even after U.S. sanctions imposed on the company left many traditional customers unwilling to work with it.

But neither company has lifted Venezuelan crude so far in March, and three tankers chartered by Rosneft to transport some 5.7 million barrels left Caribbean waters empty on Saturday after waiting off the Venezuelan coast for weeks.

It was not immediately clear if the apparent pullback would lead to a lifting of sanctions on Rosneft Trading and TNK. The Treasury Department has said it will "consider lifting sanctions for those who take concrete, meaningful, and verifiable actions to support democratic order in Venezuela."

"Now it is our right to expect the fulfillment of the promises that were made publicly by American regulators," a Rosneft representative said.

Along with some other Russian companies and individuals, Rosneft has been under U.S. financial and technological sanctions since 2014, after Moscow annexed Ukraine's Crimea region.

Rosneft said the Venezuelan assets sold include those in the joint ventures of Petromonagas, Petroperija, Boqueron, Petromiranda and Petrovictoria, as well as in oilfield services companies, commercial and trading operations, it said.

The most significant of those operations is Petromonagas, a project in which Rosneft has a 40 percent stake that includes a field in the Orinoco oil belt and a heavy crude upgrader near the Jose terminal.

The Petromonagas field produced 79,000 barrels of crude on Friday, according to an internal PDVSA document seen by Reuters, representing around 10 percent of the country's total output. The upgrader, however, has been offline for months.

Elias Matta, an opposition lawmaker who chairs the Venezuelan National Assembly's energy committee, said any transfer of shares in the joint ventures would need to be approved by the congress to be considered legitimate.

Rosneft said it would be receiving a settlement payment worth a 9.6 percent share of Rosneft's equity capital that would be held by a subsidiary. It did not say which of its shareholders was responsible for transferring the 9.6 percent stake.

(With input from agencies)