"WP": Venezuela asked Russia and China for military aid

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro

The Venezuelan leader requested radars, aircraft repair assistance, and potentially missile supplies, according to internal US government documents obtained by the newspaper. It's unclear what the response from Russia, China, and Iran has been.

The requests to the Kremlin were made in the form of a letter addressed to Vladimir Putin, which was supposedly delivered to him by a senior Venezuelan official during a visit to Moscow this month.

Nicolas Maduro also wrote a letter to Chinese leader Xi Jinping , expressing his desire for "deeper military cooperation" between Caracas and Beijing to confront "the escalation between the US and Venezuela."

The president asked China to speed up the production of radar systems by Chinese companies - presumably so that Venezuela could increase its capabilities in this area, the newspaper reported.

The documents indicate that Transportation Minister Ramon Celestino Velasquez recently coordinated the shipment of military equipment and drones from Iran and is planning a visit to the country. He reportedly told the Iranian side that Venezuela needs "passive detection devices," "GPS encryptors," and "almost certainly drones with a range of 1,000 kilometers."

In the letter, he allegedly portrayed the US military actions against Venezuela as an activity aimed at China due to the ideological proximity of these countries, the documents state.

The newspaper noted that Russia is Venezuela's main lifeline . On Sunday (October 26), a Russian Il-76 transport plane, which is subject to US sanctions, landed in the capital, Caracas. A day earlier, Moscow ratified a new treaty on strategic relations with Venezuela.

On Friday, US President Donald Trump denied planning strikes against military installations in Venezuela. The Miami Herald previously reported that the decision to attack had already been made, and the president himself had announced strikes against drug gangs on the ground.

Most of the American attacks on boats allegedly carrying drugs have taken place near the coast of Venezuela. The US accuses Nicolas Maduro of masterminding the drug smuggling operation. For weeks, it has been building up forces in the region, conducting two demonstration bomber flights towards Venezuela, and dispatching the Gerald Ford carrier strike group from Europe.