Russian officials signaled in 2019 that they might be willing to ease their support for Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela if the United States allowed Russia a freer hand in Ukraine, former Trump national security adviser Fiona Hill told lawmakers, according to newly circulating accounts of her testimony.

Hill said during a 2019 congressional hearing that Russian officials repeatedly floated a “very strange swap arrangement between Venezuela and Ukraine,” largely through public commentary and media, rather than formal diplomatic offers.

They reportedly referenced the Monroe Doctrine, suggesting the U.S. should stay out of Europe’s affairs if Russia withdrew from what it viewed as America’s sphere of influence.

Moscow’s then-ambassador to the U.S., Anatoly Antonov, hinted that Russia would permit the United States to act freely in Venezuela if Washington reciprocated by not interfering in Ukraine, Hill said. She was dispatched to Moscow in 2019 to reject the proposal, telling Russian officials that “Ukraine and Venezuela are not related to each other.”

At the time, the Trump administration supported Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó as interim president. Hill’s remarks have resurfaced on social media following the U.S. military operation that ousted Maduro earlier this month and complexifies perceptions of great-power rivalry.

Hill has warned that recent U.S. actions could undermine Western criticism of Russia’s designs on Ukraine by normalizing interventionist behavior.

The Trump administration contends its action in Venezuela is a lawful law enforcement operation. The Russian Foreign Ministry has condemned U.S. “aggression,” but President Vladimir Putin has not publicly commented on Hill’s account.