MOSCOW, September 9. /TASS/. Moscow and Caracas firmly support each other in what concerns the defense of state sovereignty and basic interests, the Russian foreign ministry said on Friday after a meeting between Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov and Venezuelan Ambassador to Russia Jesus Rafael Salazar Velasquez.
The ambassador handed over copies of his credentials to the Russian senior diplomat. "The sides reiterated their commitment to the relations of strategic partnership between Russia and Venezuela and expressed solidarity and firm mutual support on issues of the defense of state sovereignty and basic interests of the two countries," the ministry said. "The two diplomats discussed current issues of the comprehensive Russian-Venezuelan cooperation, agreed upcoming political contacts, outlined steps toward closer mutually beneficial cooperation in the trade-and-economic, investment, scientific-and-technical, cultural and humanitarian spheres that would be resistant to external pressure."