MOSCOW, February 15. /TASS/. Russian Federation Council (the upper house of parliament) Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Konstantin Kosachev plans to meet with Venezuelan Deputy Foreign Minister Ivan Gil on February 22, the Federation Council’s press service said.
"We will discuss the current situation in Venezuela, bilateral relations in these crisis conditions and ways to support the foundations of international law using parliamentary tools," Kosachev told TASS.
Crisis in Venezuela
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. Maduro, in turn, blasted the move as a coup staged by Washington and said he was severing diplomatic ties with the US.
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.
On February 4, most of the European Union member states recognized Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president.