MOSCOW, December 18. /TASS/. Moscow welcomes the meeting of Venezuelan and Guyanese presidents Nicolas Maduro and Mohamed Irfaan Ali, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement.

"We welcome the meeting of the presidents of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, and Guyana, Mohamed Irfaan Ali, in Kingstown (St. Vincent and the Grenadines), during which they exchanged views on the Essequibo issue," the diplomat said. "We believe it is fundamentally important that the heads of state, by their personal example, demonstrated their readiness for restraint and confidence building, clearly indicated their desire to search for negotiated and mutually acceptable ways of settling differences in accordance with international law, including the Geneva Agreement of February 17, 1966."

"We are convinced that keeping Latin America as an area of peace that’s free of any kind of conflict is in the interests of all countries in the region and the world as a whole," the diplomat said.