MOSCOW, March 22. /TASS/. Moscow and Caracas are developing steps to connecting Venezuela to the Mir payment system and using the respective card in Venezuela, Russia’s Ambassador to the republic Sergey Melik-Bagdasarov said in an interview with TASS.

"Connecting Venezuela to the Mir payment system and the opportunity to use this card here would be useful for servicing the travel industry," the diplomat said, adding that "the sides are developing steps in this direction, though it is too early to speak about specific dates."

International payment systems Visa and Mastercard suspended operations in Russia on March 10. All cards of those payment systems issued earlier by Russian banks will continue to be in service on the territory of Russia by the end of their expiry date, though it will not be possible to make payments with them overseas.