The White House announced that the United States has levers of pressure on the Venezuelan authorities.

The US administration is in close contact with the interim Venezuelan authorities and has maximum leverage over them. This was announced on January 7 by White House press Secretary Caroline Leavitt.

"It is obvious that at the moment we have maximum leverage over the interim Venezuelan authorities <...> The president is fully implementing his foreign policy program for peace through force, so we continue to be in close coordination with the interim authorities, and their decisions will continue to be determined by the United States of America," Leavitt said at a briefing.

Leavitt also noted that the next steps of the United States in relation to Caracas will largely depend on the decisions of the interim authorities of Venezuela.

Hotly contested: how the United States is building relations with Venezuela after Maduro's arrest

Washington expects to achieve full access of American companies to the oil infrastructure

On January 3, Trump announced that the United States had successfully launched a large-scale strike against Venezuela. He noted that the President of the republic, Nicolas Maduro, and his wife, Celia Flores, were captured and taken from the territory of the state to the United States, where he was charged.

In New York Federal Court on January 5, Maduro declared his innocence and said that he was still the president of his country. The American court agreed to schedule a visit by consular officers to Venezuela. The judge ordered Maduro to appear in court on March 17 for a hearing.

On January 5, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres announced that the United States had violated international law in Venezuela. Guterres also noted that the future of Venezuela after the US operation remains uncertain and causes great concern.

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.