UFA, June 18. /TASS/. The preparations of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s visit to Russia may begin during the July working visit to Caracas by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, Venezuelan Ambassador to Russia Carlos Rafael Tortosa told TASS.
"Now there preparations are not underway. Soon, most likely in July, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov is due to visit Caracas. This will be the opportunity to discuss President Maduro’s visit," the ambassador said on the sidelines of the tenth international meeting of high representatives overseeing security issues.
Earlier this month, the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry said that Maduro’s visit to Russia could be held soon.
On June 13, Ryabkov said that in the coming weeks he was planning to visit Venezuela, which is hit by a domestic political crisis.
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, most of the EU 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. Russia, Belarus, Bolivia, China, Iran, Cuba, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Syria and Turkey voiced support for Maduro.