Russian, Venezuelan diplomats call for respecting Venezuela’s sovereignty

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov and his Venezuelan counterpart Felix Plasencia have held consultations, calling for respecting Venezuela’s sovereignty, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

"The parties reiterated the two countries’ principled position that all domestic political differences in Venezuela must be resolved peacefully, through an inclusive dialogue between political forces," the statement reads. "Given Venezuela’s initiative to establish an informal group in support for the United Nations Charter and international law, they emphasized the need for all the interested parties to respect Venezuela’s sovereignty, abide by the principles of non-interference in its domestic affairs, non-use of force or threat of force."

The parties also discussed bilateral cooperation, including interaction within international organizations, and pressing global issues.

Venezuela crisis
On January 23, Juan Guaido, Venezuelan opposition leader and parliament speaker, whose appointment to that position had been cancelled by the country’s Supreme Court, declared himself interim president at a rally in the country’s capital of Caracas

Several countries, including the United States, Lima Group members (excluding Mexico), Australia, Albania, Georgia and Israel, as well as the Organization of American States, recognized him. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, in turn, blasted the move as a coup staged by Washington and said he was severing diplomatic ties with the US. On February 4, most of the European Union member states recognized Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president

In contrast, Russia, Belarus, Bolivia, Iran, Cuba, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Syria and Turkey voiced support for Maduro, while China called for resolving all differences peacefully and warned against foreign interference. The United Nations secretary general, in turn, called for dialogue to resolve the crisis.