MOSCOW, April 30. /TASS/. The Venezuelan Armed Forces remain loyal to the country’s legitimate government, Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez stated on Twitter on Tuesday.

"The Venezuelan Armed Forces are strongly in favor of the nation’s constitution and legitimate government. All military units [of the republic] report that the situation in their quarters and at military bases under the command of their officers is under control," he noted. The minister called the military officers supporting the opposition’s leader Juan Guaido "traitors and cowards".

Earlier, Guaido published a video on Twitter, in which he addressed the Venezuelan military to take to the streets in order to "end the usurpation" in the country.

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 on January 23. On the same day, the United States recognized him as an interim president, and the countries of the Lima Group (excluding Mexico) and the Organization of American States followed suit. Venezuela's incumbent President Nicolas Maduro blasted the move as an attempted coup and announced cutting diplomatic ties with the United States.

Most European Union member states recognized Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president. Russia, Belarus, Bolivia, Iran, China, Cuba, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Syria and Turkey voiced support for Maduro.