MOSCOW, December 23. /TASS/. The information disseminated by the Associated Press about the alleged evacuation of the Russian embassy from Venezuela is false, the Russian Foreign Ministry told TASS.

"The information disseminated by the AP about the alleged evacuation of the Russian embassy from Venezuela is false," the ministry stated.

The Foreign Ministry also called for vigilance and not to succumb to Western provocations.

Washington is baselessly accusing Venezuelan authorities of insufficiently combating drug smuggling. The US Navy has deployed a strike group of ships led by the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, a nuclear submarine, and more than 16,000 service members to the Caribbean Sea. Since September, US forces have sunk at least 20 speedboats in the region, killing more than 80 people. Washington has also announced the closure of airspace over Venezuela and a blockade of sanctioned oil tankers.

American media have repeatedly reported that the US may soon begin striking drug cartel targets in Venezuela. Russia expects the US administration to take a pragmatic approach to the situation in Venezuela to prevent serious consequences for the entire region, Alexander Shchetinin, Director of the Latin American Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, told TASS.