The United States hopes that Venezuela will be "not relying on Cubans and Russians" after a peaceful transition of power takes place in the South American country, US State Secretary Mike Pompeo said in an interview with Fox Business.

"Russia is there today. The Cubans are there today. We are very hopeful that when this peaceful transition takes place, which is our ultimate objective, then the Venezuelan people will want it to be sovereign and independent, not relying on Cubans and Russians for their security or their well-being," Pompeo said in the interview released late on Wednesday.

Pompeo continued by noting that Lebanese movement Hezbollah, which had close relations to Iran, considered as an adversary by the United States, was also active in Venezuela. 

"People don’t recognize that Hezbollah has active cells — the Iranians are impacting the people of Venezuela and throughout South America. We have an obligation to take down that risk for America," Pompeo explained.

The state secretary noted he would raise this issue during the upcoming ministerial conference on the Middle East in Warsaw.

The United States has been seeking to dismiss Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was re-elected last May, claiming Maduro falsified the vote results in order to declare himself president. Washington also supported Juan Guaido, the speaker of the opposition-led National Assembly, who proclaimed himself Venezuela’s interim president amid anti-government protests in January. Washington was joined by a number of other regional states, while Maduro was supported by China, Russia and a number of other countries as Venezuela’s only president.

A number of EU member states have also individually recognized Guaido as Venezuela's acting president after the Venezuelan authorities failed to organize a new presidential election in the country within an eight-day period set by the EU states. EU countries were also expected to issue a joint statement recognizing Guaido, however, Italy vetoed the motion.

Maduro has lashed out on Washington over its policies toward Caracas, suggesting the United States thought to take control over Venezuela’s oil assets. Maduro also accused Guaido of acting at the instructions from Washington.