Sergei Lavrov, a Russian top diplomat, will meet his American counterpart next week, TASS quoted deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov. The telephone conversation was held at White House’s initiative.
Mike Pompeo and Sergei Lavrov will discuss the recent developments next week, on the sidelines of the Arctic Council ministerial session on Monday and Tuesday in the city of Rovaniemi, Finland.
The top diplomats are ready to meet at the time of simmering tensions between the two superpowers over the crisis in Venezuela. The socio-economic chaos in the Latin American country is worsening by the unrest in Venezuela. The rivalry of Nicolas Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaido is likely to be a key point of discussion of Mike Pompeo and Sergei Lavrov.
While Washington views President Maduro’s re-election last year as illegitimate and has recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim president, Kremlin remains the long-term ally for Nicolas Maduro. Russia stressed that the US’s intervention in the domestic affairs of a sovereign state and threats against its administration are the rudest violation of international law, the Foreign ministry’s statement reads.
“The situation in Venezuela, where the opposition had tried to seize power with obvious support from the US the previous day, was in the focus of attention,” the ministry noted.”
According to Kremlin, the continuation of aggressive steps will have the most drastic consequences. The foreign ministry reiterated that only the Venezuelan people have the right to determine their fate, so that the dialogue of all political forces in the country, for which its government has been calling for a long time, is highly demanded.
“A destructive outside influence, all the more a political one, has nothing in common with a democratic process,” the ministry stressed.
