President Donald Trump said that the United States may open talks with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
According to Reuters, Trump on Sunday hinted at talks with Maduro who faces escalating pressure from Washington amid a massive US military buildup in the Caribbean.
It was one of the first signs of a possible path toward defusing an increasingly tense situation in the region as the US wages a campaign of deadly strikes against suspected drug trafficking boats off the Venezuelan coast and in the eastern Pacific Ocean.
"We may be having some discussions with Maduro, and we'll see how that turns out," Trump told reporters on Sunday in West Palm Beach, Florida, before getting on a flight back to Washington. "They would like to talk."
Trump offered no further details about the possibility of talks with Maduro, whom the U.S. has accused of ties to the illegal drug trade, which Maduro denies.
Senior Trump administration officials held three meetings at the White House last week to discuss options for possible military operations against Venezuela, including land strikes inside the country, officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The Venezuelan communications ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trump's latest remarks.
Earlier on Sunday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US would designate an alleged drug organization, Cartel de los Soles, as a "foreign terrorist organization," which makes it a crime for anyone in the US to provide material support to the group.
