Mubasher: US President Donald Trump said that military intervention in Venezuela was “an option” amid Western pressures on the South American nation’s leader Nicholas Maduro to step aside.

In response, Russia, Venezuela’s ally, warned against “destructive meddling”.

US military intervention was being weighed, President Trump said in an interview with CBS aired on Sunday.

“Certainly, it’s something that’s on the - it’s an option,” Trump said, noting that Maduro requested a meeting months ago.

The US, Canada and several South American nations have disavowed Nicholas Maduro over his controversial re-election last year, recognising Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s president.

France and Austria said they would recognise Guaido as the country’s leader if Maduro did not respond to the European Union’s (EU) call for holding a fair presidential election by Sunday night.

The US administration last week slapped sanctions on Venezuela’s state-run oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PdVSA), a major vein of revenue for the oil-rich country.

Meanwhile, Maduro maintains the support of Russia, China and Turkey and the backing of the military.

Russia, a key creditor to the economically embattled nation, urged restraint.

“The international community’s goal should be to help (Venezuela), without destructive meddling from beyond its borders,” Latin America department head at Russian Foreign Ministry Alexander Shchetinin told Interfax.