BRUSSELS, February 25. /TASS/. The European Union stands for resolving the Venezuelan crisis peacefully, EU Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Maja Kocijancic said at a press conference in Brussels on Monday.

"We need a peaceful political and democratic and Venezuelan-owned resolution of this crisis. This obviously excludes the use of force," she said.

On February 28, the EU will discuss preparations for a new ministerial meeting of the Contact Group on Venezuela, Kocijancic noted, adding that no date for the meeting had been determined so far.

Crisis in Venezuela

On January 23, Juan Guaido, Venezuelan opposition leader and parliament speaker, whose appointment to that position had been cancelled by the country’s Supreme Court, declared himself interim president at a rally in the country’s capital of Caracas.

Several countries, including the United States, Lima Group members (excluding Mexico), Australia, Albania, Georgia and Israel, as well as the Organization of American States, recognized him. Maduro, in turn, blasted the move as a coup staged by Washington and said he was severing diplomatic ties with the US.

In contrast, Russia, Belarus, Bolivia, Iran, Cuba, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Syria and Turkey voiced support for Maduro, while China called for resolving all differences peacefully and warned against foreign interference. The United Nations secretary general, in turn, called for dialogue to resolve the crisis.

On February 4, most of the European Union member states recognized Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president.

On Saturday, Guaido called on the international community to be ready to consider all options to resolve the crisis in Venezuela. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo told Fox News that every option was on the table as far as Venezuela was concerned.