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Moscow strongly condemns Venezuelan leader’s assassination attempt

The Russian Foreign Ministry said that these steps are aimed at destabilizing the situation in the country

The building of the Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation Gennady Homeland/TASS

The building of the Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation

© Gennady Homeland/TASS

MOSCOW, August 5. /TASS/. Moscow strongly condemns the assassination attempt against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, stressing that these steps are aimed at destabilizing the situation in the country, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

"We strongly condemn the assassination attempt against the Venezuelan president carried out on August 4 this year, in which seven people were wounded," the ministry said, stressing that "it is absolutely unacceptable to use the methods of terrorists as tools of political struggle."

"It is obvious that these steps are designed to destabilize the situation in the country after the recent session of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, which outlined priority steps on restoring national economy," the ministry said. "We are convinced that political disagreements should be settled only by peaceful and democratic means."

The ministry expressed solidarity with the Venezuelan people and also wished a speedy recovery to those injured in the attack.

Venezuelan Communications Minister Jorge Rodriguez earlier said that Maduro’s assassination attempt was committed with the use of several drones packed with explosives. They detonated while the head of state was delivering his speech at the ceremony for the 81st anniversary of the Bolivarian National Guard’s establishment. Seven law enforcement officers were injured. Neither the state leader nor the top government officials were injured in the explosion, he said.

The Venezuelan president said several participants of his attempted murder were detained and accused the Colombian leader of being behind the plot. Maduro also said some those who planned to kill him live in the United States.

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