Russia and Venezuela have dramatically expanded economic, political and defense ties over the past two decades, with the United States placing crushing sanctions on the Latin American nation and repeatedly attempting to institute regime change in Caracas over the country's attempts to secure independence from Washington's influence.
Moscow and Caracas will continue to expand their cooperation in the oil sector, and are working on a new agreement to circumvent Western sanctions in finance and logistics, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Carlos Faria has indicated, according to Sputnik news agency.
"We have an extremely negative view of the policy which the United States has been pursuing for many years...against various countries, against various governments...We unquestionably condemn the use of these illegal sanctions against any country," Faria said, speaking to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow on Monday.
"I would like to thank you, as well as Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian government for the political support of the national processes that are taking place in Venezuela. I'm speaking about Russia's participation in the role of mediator in talks with the Venezuelan opposition," Faria added.
The foreign minister pointed to concrete projects with Russian companies and a deepening of cooperation, and expressed hope that Moscow and Caracas can overcome roadblocks connected to US sanctions. "The conditions in which we found ourselves thanks to the actions of the US administration hindered the development of the oil industry," affecting investments, financing, loans, the purchase of equipment and spare parts, he said.
Pointing to the alternative finance systems worked out by Russia, China and India to circumvent the West's attempted "blockade," Faria noted that "more and more countries are interacting with Russia, and they are not afraid of the consequences they are being threatened with."
The Venezuelan top diplomat also expressed support for Russia's position on the crisis in Ukraine, saying Caracas sees Russia's readiness for dialogue and negotiations, and hopes that an agreement is ultimately reached which takes into account the interests of both Moscow and Kiev.
Lavrov welcomed the "normalization of the situation in and around Venezuela," and promised that Moscow would continue to "contribute" to the country's sustainable development "in any way we can."
MNA/PR
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