The Washington Post - USA (2022-03-07)

MONDAY, MARCH 7 , 2022. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ RE A

war in ukraine

BY JOHN HUDSON

AND SAMANTHA SCHMIDT

A group of senior U.S. officials
flew to Venezuela on Saturday for
a meeting with President Nicolás
Maduro’s government to discuss
the possibility of easing sanctions
on Venezuelan oil exports as the
Biden administration weighs a
ban on imports of Russian oil and
gas, according to two people fa-
miliar with the situation.
The trip is the highest-level
U.S. visit to the socialist state in
years and comes as the United
States is seeking to isolate Russia
for its invasion of Ukraine. Ven-
ezuela, the Kremlin’s most impor-
tant ally in South America, used
to be a significant supplier of
crude to the United States before
exports were hobbled by domes-
tic mismanagement and crip-
pling sanctions from Washing-
ton.
In recent weeks, former Ameri-
can lawmakers have pushed for

the U.S. to ban Russian oil and gas

exports while lifting restrictions

on Venezuela, home to the world’s

largest oil reserves.

The U.S. delegation included

Roger Carstens, the special presi-

dential envoy for hostage affairs;

Juan González, the National Se-

curity Council’s senior director

for Western Hemisphere affairs;

and Jimmy Story, the U.S. ambas-

sador to Venezuela, said one per-

son familiar with the visit.

The trip comes just days after

Maduro and Russian President

Vladimir Putin spoke over the

phone about boosting the part-

nership between their countries.

The State Department and the

White House declined to com-

ment.

During the trip, U.S. officials

are also trying to secure the re-

lease of six former executives of

Houston-based Citgo Petroleum

Corp., an oil refiner formerly con-

trolled by the Maduro govern-

ment, according to a person fa-

miliar with the visit who spoke on

the condition of anonymity to

discuss sensitive diplomatic

meetings. The “Citgo 6” were ar-

rested during a business trip to

Caracas in November 2017 and

charged with money laundering,

embezzlement, racketeering and

participating in organized crime.

They denied the allegations.

The U.S. officials are also seek-

ing to negotiate the release of two

former Green Berets who were

accused in a plot to remove Ma-

duro, as well as a former marine

who was arrested while traveling

along the Caribbean coast of Ven-

ezuela.

The U.S. and Venezuela broke

off diplomatic relations in 2019

after the U.S. government recog-

nized Juan Guaidó as the coun-

try’s legitimate president, accus-

ing Maduro of winning reelection

through fraud. In an attempt to

force Maduro from power, the

Trump administration blocked

all U.S. revenue to Venezuela’s

national oil company.

Biden administration officials

have been weighing how to re-

spond to penalize Russia for its

invasion of Ukraine without fur-

ther driving up the cost of oil and

of gasoline at the pump.

In recent weeks, some U.S. in-

vestors have called on the admin-

istration to lift sanctions on Ven-

ezuela so it can send more crude

oil into the market, the Wall

Street Journal reported. Chevron

has also lobbied the administra-

tion to modify its license to accept

and trade oil in Venezuela.

But some Republicans, such as

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) have

sharply criticized the decision by

U.S. officials to travel to Ven-

ezuela, a trip which was first

reported by the New York Times.

A decision to re-engage with Ven-

ezuela could come at a political

cost for the Biden administration

and Democrats, particularly in

Florida.

“Joe Biden using #Russia as an

excuse to do the deal they always

wanted to do anyway with the

#MaduroRegime,” Rubio tweeted

Sunday. “Rather than produce

more American oil he wants to

replace the oil we buy from one

murderous dictator with oil from

another murderous dictator.”

Geoff Ramsey, Venezuela direc-

tor at the Washington Office on

Latin America, said the U.S. trip

to Caracas comes as negotiators

for the Venezuelan opposition

have been pushing the Biden ad-

ministration for “carrots” that

could draw Maduro back to talks

in Mexico City, which were sus-

pended in October.

“It does seem like there’s a

potential for things to shift, I

think the question is what the U.S.

is going to get in exchange,” Ram-

sey said. “It’s very unlikely that

senior Biden officials would go to

Caracas and meet with Maduro

and be able to sell a major policy

shift like this if they were to come

home empty-handed.”

U.S. officials have signaled the

Biden administration will contin-

ue to recognize Guaidó as Ven-

ezuela’s rightful leader. But in an

interview with America’s Quar-

terly this week, Juan González

said the administration is focused

on negotiations, rather than top-

pling Maduro.

“Whereas the previous admin-

istration’s theory of change was

based on regime collapse, ours is

... that only a negotiation will lead

to concrete and sustainable

change in Venezuela toward dem-

ocratic order,” he said.

Opposition leaders reached by

The Washington Post said they

had no knowledge of the U.S.

delegation’s visit, although some

of them have been in talks to ease

sanctions.

Schmidt reported from Bogotá,

Colombia. Ana Vanessa Herrero in

Caracas, Venezuela, and Anthony

Faiola in Miami contributed to this

report.

In Venezuela, U.S. o∞cials d iscuss oil exports amid possible Russian-fuel ban

dent Vladimir Putin. Another

attendee gifted a pressure cook-

er.

The ceremony was also

marked by a significant amount

of patriotism. Shortly after the

couple kissed, the crowd called

out in unison, “Glory to the

family! Glory to the family! Glory

to Ukraine! Glory to heroes!

Glory to the nation! Death to the

enemies! Ukraine above all!”

Then flower petals began to

waft down from a drone flying

overhead, and the crowd burst

into the national anthem.

The guests held weapons in

one hand and white roses in the

other. One by one, they walked

up to Filimonova to congratulate

her, each handing her a flower

until she was holding a full

bouquet.

words and prayers,” Karan said

in an interview. “My weapons are

different, like liturgies, confes-

sions, prayers or even wedding

ceremonies like this one.” He

added, “My duty is to be with

soldiers who are fighting for our

land and provide them with

spiritual support.”

Before the ceremony, Karan

said, the couple made their con-

fessions. “They tried to purge

their hearts and minds,” he said.

“Indeed, they really wanted to

get married.”

Like any good wedding, the

occasion also included gifts. One

guest held a Philips electric ket-

tle, a convenient present for a

couple working in freezing con-

ditions on the front line.

On the box, he wrote a mes-

sage denigrating Russian Presi-

we surely feel uplifted,” Filimon-

ova said after.

The Rev. Dmytro Karan helped

preside over the ceremony. His

vestments and cross were draped

over his military uniform. The

couple’s 18-year-old daughter,

Ruslana, was watching by video

call.

The newlyweds each held a

thin candle as Karan went

through the rites, which includ-

ed spreading incense and having

the couple hold hands and walk

in a circle together.

When the Orthodox ceremony

reached the moment at which a

crown is traditionally held above

the bride’s head, an attendee

raised a military helmet above

her instead.

“As chaplain I cannot use any

weapon. So I’m left with my

and salmon hors d’oeuvres.

Filimonova was glowing in a

simple veil clipped to her short

hair, which she had curled for the

occasion. Ukrainian musician

Taras Kompanichenko, who

plays the lira, a traditional folk

instrument, provided live music.

He was also wearing fatigues.

As Filimonova began to stroll

down toward the makeshift ar-

bor, marked by a Ukrainian flag

erected in the ground, speakers

blasted an instrumental version

of “Here Comes the Bride.” On

her sleeve was the yellow arm-

band signaling she belongs to the

Territorial Defense Forces.

It was the first time the couple

had seen each other since the

war began late last month. “It is

hard to call it unconditional

happiness in this situation, but

Forces of citizen volunteers in
the Ukrainian military.
Before the war, Filimonova
worked as the head of a scout
organization. Filimonov led an
information technology compa-
ny.
They joined the force, Fili-
monova said, “because here we
have everything we love, and we
have to defend it. We have no
intention of giving it away to the
enemy.”
The wedding began, as they
often do, with the bride walking
down the aisle. In this case, the
aisle was a small patch of grass
off a busy road in Kyiv, next to a
checkpoint and a parking garage
where men and women in uni-
form rushed to arrange caviar

WEDDING FROM A

In the midst of war, roses and RPGs at a roadside wedding

PHOTOS BY HEIDI LEVINE FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

Lesya Filimonova and Valeriy Filimonov, above, held their wedding ceremony near a military checkpoint in the c apital as fighting

intensified in Ukraine on Sunday. The wedding party included civilian members of the Territorial Defense Forces, top left, who carried

rifles and rocket-propelled grenades on their shoulders. Among the guests was Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, who wore a bulletproof vest

and took a selfie with the bride. At top right, the w edding cake for Filimonova and Filimonov rests on a chair. Just over a week ago, the

couple were “normal people” with no plans to carry weapons or fight, the mayor said.

BY JOYCE SOHYUN LEE,

SARAH CAHLAN

AND GINA HARKINS

Two aircrew members were

seen parachuting from a downed

Russian jet Saturday in Cherni-

hiv, Ukraine, according to the

Ukraine State Emergency Serv-

ice (SES).

The SES shared photos on

Twitter on Saturday showing the

smoking remnants of the jet in

the city, located about 95 miles

north of Kyiv. Officials said on

social media that the plane had

been shot down and two people

rescued.

The Washington Post verified

the visuals and, using the num-

ber “24” on the plane’s vertical

stabilizer, determined that the

aircraft was a Sukhoi Su-34 fight-

er jet. The same plane was photo-

graphed in 2019 in Russia by

plane spotters, and the identifi-

cation was confirmed by Tony

Wilson of the Security Force

Monitor at Columbia Law

School’s Human Rights Institute.

A billowing column of black

smoke from the crash site could

be seen from a half-mile away,

according to a video verified by

The Post.

Military analysts told The Post

that Russia’s initial attacks on

Ukrainian military targets failed

to knock out the country’s air

defenses. Those defenses were

not centrally located, the Associ-

ated Press reported, leaving

Ukraine with surface-to-air mis-

sile systems capable of shooting

down planes and helicopters.

Ukrainian President Volod-

ymyr Zelensky pleaded with

members of Congress on Satur-

day for help in transferring more

Soviet-era fighter jets to his

country to counter Russian air

attacks.

Those planes could be sent

from Eastern European coun-

tries, including Poland, Romania

and Slovakia, one senator wrote

after the call.

Zelensky asked lawmakers to

“close the skies or give us planes,”

Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) said in a

statement on Saturday.

U.S. and other NATO leaders

have declined Zelensky’s calls to

send military aircraft into

Ukraine to establish a no-fly

zone.

Such a move could cause the

conflict to escalate and “lead to a

full-fledged war in Europe,” U.S.

Secretary of State Antony Blink-

en said.

Russian President Vladimir

Putin on Saturday said that if

countries enforce a no-fly zone in

Ukraine, it would be considered

“participation in the armed con-

flict.”

Russia’s forces continued

pummeling civilian areas on Sat-

urday. A cluster of brick homes

was destroyed south of Kyiv in a

suspected Russian rocket attack.

The United States has sup-

plied Ukraine with antiaircraft

and antitank missiles, The Post

reported, but Zelensky said those

weapons are not enough to fend

off Russian forces.

Ukraine needs planes, he said.

Todd C. Frankel and Mike DeBonis

contributed to this report.

Video shows

Russian crew

parachuting

from fighter

Ukrainians say they shot

down the Su-34 about

9 5 miles north of Kyiv

“Here we have everything we love, and we have to defend it.

We have no intention of giving it away to the enemy.”

Lesya Filimonova, on why she and her new husband joined the Territorial Defense Forces to defend Kyiv