Russia tells Trump its military personnel are still in Venezuela

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The Kremlin on Tuesday contradicted a statement by U.S. President Donald Trump and said it had not officially informed him about the activities of its military personnel in Venezuela who it said were continuing to provide military aid to Caracas.

Trump posted a message on Twitter on Monday, saying that Russia had told the United States that it had removed "most of their people" from Venezuela, where Moscow has maintained military and economic ties with socialist President Nicolas Maduro.

But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Moscow had not been in touch with Trump on the subject, and that it appeared that his information had been taken from newspaper reports, which Russian officials have already denied, or from somewhere else.

Peskov said Russian military personnel remained in Venezuela in order to fulfill the terms of military contracts between Moscow and Caracas and that everything was going according to plan.

U.S. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump are seen at Westminster Abbey as part of their state visit in London, Britain, June 3, 2019. /Reuters Photo

The Trump administration, which backs opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country's legitimate interim president, has insisted that Russian and Cuban support for Maduro has been essential to keeping him in power and has called for them to withdraw security personnel.

Moscow sent nearly a hundred Russian special forces and cybersecurity personnel to Caracas in March, U.S. officials have said. Private military contractors who do secret missions for Russia flew into Venezuela in late January to beef up security for Maduro, according to people close to them.

"Russia has informed us that they have removed most of their people from Venezuela," Trump tweeted.

(Cover: Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro (L) speaks with military commanders during a meeting, in Caracas, Venezuela June 3, 2019. /Reuters Photo)

(With input from Reuters)