Trump says call with Putin focused on Venezuela aid

By Steve Holland and Roberta Rampton

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he focused on humanitarian aid for Venezuelans during a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, backing away from recent harsh rhetoric about Russian involvement in the crisis.

Trump and Putin spoke for more than an hour on several topics, their first known conversation since December and since tensions flared in Venezuela, where Washington backs opposition leader Juan Guaido and Moscow supports President Nicolas Maduro.

A month ago, when Russia sent a contingent of special forces to Caracas, Trump told reporters: “Russia has to get out.”

On Friday, he made no mention of the troops.

“We talked about many things, Venezuela was one of the topics,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

“And he (Putin) is not looking at all to get involved in Venezuela other than he would like to see something positive happen for Venezuela, and I feel the same way. We want to get some humanitarian aid - right now people are starving, they have no food, they have no water,” he said.

Trump's comments came days after an attempted uprising led by Guaido failed to turn key military figures against Maduro.