MOSCOW, November 28. /TASS/. The relevant agencies of Venezuela are considering the possibility of connecting to the Russian payment system Mir, Russian Ambassador to Venezuela Sergey Melik-Bagdasarov told TASS on Monday, adding that there is progress on this issue.

"There is progress, obviously. The appropriate structures are in contact, though it would be too early to speak about any specific timelines," he said when asked a respective question.

"The Venezuelan side has all the information on connecting to the Russian payment system, Mir, which is under consideration by the relevant agencies. The process needs to be analyzed and thoroughly studied," the diplomat added.

The progress with the internationalization of the Mir system has triggered "a truly wild hatred" in the West in recent months, the ambassador noted. "The fear to inevitably lose the currency and financial monopoly is doing its part, and in order to postpone the approaching reality somehow Washington is using the policy of thinly veiled threat and blackmail," he stressed.

President of the Central Bank of Venezuela Calixto Jose Ortega Sanchez said in an interview with TASS on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in June that the use of Mir cards in Venezuela could become possible by the end of the year.