US to blame for Europe’s refugee crisis: Maduro

The Venezuelan president has blamed the United States for Europe’s worst refugee crisis since World War II, saying that the crisis was prompted by US-instigated conflicts in the Middle East.

“It is Europe that has to deal with the disaster caused by the US, because it is Europe that is now taking in thousands of migrants and they don’t know how to cope with this situation,” said Nicolas Maduro.

He made the remarks in an exclusive interview with RT on Sunday as he was on a China visit for V-Day celebrations commemorating the 70th anniversary of WWII’s conclusion.

The Latin American leader said many woes across the globe, ranging from the refugee crisis in Europe to bloody conflicts in the Middle East, including the terror campaign by Daesh (ISIL), were the outcomes of long-lasting US policies in the Mideast.

He referred to Iraq and said, “By deception, they (the Americans) invaded the country – that is a cradle of civilization – and razed it to the ground. Now is it literally split into thousands [of] parts and engulfed by terrorism in its cruelest form,” Maduro said.
“The US has caused a real disaster, chaos and now it wants to cause chaos in other regions of the world,” added the Venezuelan president, who has also blasted the US for repeated meddling in his own country over the years.

“Who bombed Libya? Who took the lives of more than 100,000 Libyans? Who is now bombing Syria? Who financed the terrorists that are now seeking to destroy it?” he said.

During the interview, the Latin American leader said he and Russian President Vladimir Putin had met in China on Thursday and had worked out a number of plans aimed at stabilizing the global oil market. He did not elaborate on the nature of the plan, saying they would be made public later.

He also predicted that oil prices could potentially reach $70 per barrel in the upcoming months and then would remain within the price range of $70-$80 per barrel.