CARACAS, December 28. /TASS/. Venezuela decisively condemns the arrival of a British patrol ship to Guyana, which poses a direct threat to the peace in the region, and demands to stop foreign interference in the territorial dispute over the Guyana Essequiba region, the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry said in a statement, published on Foreign Minister Yvan Gil’s X page.

"The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela categorically rejects the arrival of the HMS Trent, a vessel from the British Navy, to the coasts of Guyana, which becomes an act of hostile provocation and a violation of the recent Argyle Declaration, assumed as a roadmap to address the territorial controversy over Guayana Esequiba between Venezuela and Guyana," the statement reads.

According to the statement, the "presence of the military vessel is extremely serious, since it is accompanied by statements made by political and military spokespersons, […] who insist on meddling in this controversy."

"These statements have been equally synchronized with actions of the US Southern Command, which clearly are a direct threat to peace and stability in the region," the document reads.

"Venezuela urges the Guyanese authorities to take immediate action for the withdrawal of the HMS Trent vessel, and to refrain from continuing to involve military powers in the territorial controversy," the Foreign Ministry says.

Previously, the BBC reported citing a representative of the British Defense Ministry that the UK will send HMS Trent for diplomatic and military support of Guyana. Guyana has been a British colony for 135 years and was called British Guiana until declaration of independence in 1966.

Following the December 14 negotiations in Kingstown, Venezuela and Guyana vowed to reject any use of force in the settlement of the territorial dispute and reaffirmed their obligations to keep Latin America an area of peace, to prevent an escalation in the contested Essequibo region, and to resolve the years-long territorial dispute in accordance with international law. The sides agreed to continue the negotiations at the highest level in three months in Brazil.

The territorial dispute between Venezuela and Guyana has been going on for over 100 years. The conflict escalated after oil deposit of at least 10 billion barrels of oil was discovered in the region, know and Guyana granted ExxonMobil a concession on oil extraction at the shelf that does not have its border delimited.