Venezuela Has Right to Sell Gold, Russia Has Nothing to Do With It - Kremlin

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia has nothing to do with the sale of Venezuelan gold but considers any operations with it to be Venezuela's sovereign right, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has stated.

"I don’t know about any talks on the issue, I don’t have any information. In any case, this is a sovereign decision, sovereign right. There’s nothing to comment on, this is Venezuela’s internal affair", Peskov told reporters when asked whether talks with Russia on the purchase and sale of Venezuelan gold had been conducted.

He said Russia was not involved in operations with Venezuelan gold.

"No. Neither the Kremlin nor the government has anything to do with it. I don’t have any information for anyone here to have to do with it", Peskov said.

The statement comes amid numerous media reports suggesting that Venezuela's gold reserves are being transferred to Russia amid the ongoing political crisis in the country.

READ MORE: US to Ease Sanctions on Venezuelan PDVSA If Guaido Assumes Control — Treasury

Earlier in January, media reported that Juan Guaido, the Venezuelan opposition leader, who proclaimed himself the country's interim president last week, had sent a letter to UK Prime Minister Theresa May and Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England, asking them to prevent Maduro from pulling out any of gold held in the UK's central bank.

Last week opposition leader Juan Guaido proclaimed himself interim president of Venezuela. The Trump administration after recognizing Guaido seized billions of dollars' worth of Venezuela's oil assets. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has accused the United States of orchestrating a coup attempt while Russia, China and several other countries came forward to support Maduro as the country's only legitimate head of state.