YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK, April 28. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the meeting in Beijing stressed that foreign pressure on Venezuela and the attempts of using force with the goal of ousting the authorities are unacceptable, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday.
"As for Venezuela, both the Chinese and our leader highlighted that it is totally unacceptable when anyone tries to topple authorities in a third country, attempting to use force and illegal international pressure against a sovereign state, in order to change the leadership there," Peskov told the program "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin" on Rossiya-1 TV channel.
According to Peskov, the two leaders stressed that the people of Venezuela should independently decide on the future of their country, including on its political leadership.
Political crisis in Venezuela worsened after 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.
He was recognized by the United States along with Lima Group members (excluding Mexico), the Organization of American States and most European Union’s member-states. Russia, Belarus, Bolivia, Iran, Cuba, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Syria and Turkey voiced support for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.