MOSCOW, January 25. /TASS/. Possible financial or military support for Venezuela was not discussed during a phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.
"No," the Kremlin spokesman said answering reporters’ questions.
The two leaders’ phone call took place in the evening on January 24. According to the Kremlin press service, Putin expressed support for the legitimate Venezuelan authorities "amid the exacerbation of the domestic political crisis provoked from outside." He stressed that destructive outside interference grossly violated the fundamental norms of international law.
The Russian leader spoke out in favor of search for solutions within the framework of the Constitution, adding that it was only possible to overcome differences in the Venezuelan society through a peaceful dialogue.
For his part, Venezuela’s president assessed the developments in his country over the past few days and thanked Putin for Russia’s principled stance.
The two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to continuing bilateral cooperation in various areas.
Crisis in Venezuela
On January 23, Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself acting president during an opposition rally in Caracas. Venezuela's incumbent President Nicolas Maduro described these developments as an attempted coup and said he was breaking diplomatic ties with the US.
The Lima Group member-countries, except for Mexico, as well as Albania, Georgia, the US and the Organization of American States (OAS) have already recognized Guaido as Venezuela's interim president. Some EU countries supported Venezuela’s parliament, expressing hope that elections will be held to resolve the crisis.
Russia, Bolivia, Iran, Cuba, Nicaragua and Turkey expressed their support for Maduro. Belarus and China called for resolving all disagreements peacefully and spoke out against outside interference, while the UN secretary general called for a dialogue to find a solution to the crisis.