Venezuela Launches US Diplomatic Talks After Maduro's Capture

“Last month, they lost 31,000 people. Many of them were Russian soldiers. The Russian economy is doing poorly. I think we are going to end up getting it settled. I wish we could have done it quicker because a lot of people are dying, mostly soldiers.”

“I think we're going to have a--and always had--a great relationship with him. I am very disappointed. I settled eight wars. I thought this would be in the middle of the pack or maybe one of the easier ones.”

“She wasn't anti-American; she'd even lived in Santa Monica. She was the farthest thing from an ideologue.”

“He wasn't taking the deal, He was just going to sit there and watch people create a crisis.”

“What was proposed to (Maduro) was that he would go away, and he would be able to enjoy his money. Part of that ask was that (President Vladimir) Putin would guarantee security.”

“It is disappointing that parts of a confidential conversation were disclosed that do not accurately reflect the content of the conversation itself, which took place during the Christmas period.”

“The president said you can go the easy way or the hard way.”

“Nicolas Maduro had multiple opportunities to avoid this. He was provided very, very, very generous offers and chose instead to act like a wild man, chose instead to play around.”