ISTANBUL

US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that India will buy oil from Venezuela instead of Iran, adding that China is also welcome to buy oil from Venezuela.

“We've already made a deal. India is coming in, and they're going to be buying Venezuelan oil, as opposed to buying it from Iran. So, we've already made that deal, the concept of the deal, but China is welcome to come in and buy oil,” Trump said on Air Force One en route Palm Beach, Florida.

His remarks came a day after India and Venezuela agreed to “further deepen and expand bilateral partnership,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Friday as he spoke to Delcy Rodriguez, acting president of the South American country.

In a Jan. 3 military operation in Venezuela, the US captured President Nicolas Maduro and his wife and brought them to New York, where they pleaded not guilty to drug and weapons charges.

Trump said his administration would "run" Venezuela and its oil assets during a transitional period.

The US president had imposed 50% tariffs on Indian goods, citing New Delhi’s continued oil purchases from Russia.

In response to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum saying Friday that her administration is looking for alternatives to assist Cuba as she warned of a grave humanitarian crisis after the US tightened sanctions on countries that supply oil to the Caribbean island, Trump said that there “does not have to be a humanitarian crisis.”

“I think they probably would come to us. Cuba would be free again. They'll come to us. They'll make a deal,” he added.

When asked if he made a final decision on Iran, Trump said that Tehran is “seriously talking” with the US, and he hopes it will result in “something that’s acceptable.”

“Certainly, I can't tell you that, but we do have very big, powerful ships heading in that direction. I hope they negotiate something that's acceptable,”

“Some people think that some people don’t make a negotiated deal that would be satisfactory with no nuclear weapons, and said they should do that, but I don’t know that they will. But they are talking to us, seriously talking to us,” he added.