Russia Reaffirms Support for Venezuelan Sovereignty

Caracas, February 6, 2017 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov highlighted his government’s commitment to Venezuelan sovereignty Monday during a bilateral meeting with his Venezuelan counterpart in Moscow.

In an official statement, Lavrov rejected foreign intervention in the South American country and praised the Venezuelan government’s ongoing efforts to promote national dialogue as the only solution to the country’s political conflicts.

“We express…our support for the elected government’s path towards normalizing the national dialogue in order to overcome… the [country’s] problems in a constitutional manner, without destructive external interference,” the communiqué reads.

In October, the government of Nicolas Maduro and the right-wing opposition entered into Vatican-mediated talks, which succeeded in reaching several points of agreement before breaking down in December. On Sunday, President Maduro indicated that the dialogue may soon resume, although the opposition has yet to issue any public statement.

Lavrov also underscored Russian support for Venezuela’s role on the world stage, stressing the two nation’s shared commitment to a multipolar world.

“We back Venezuela’s independent line in foreign policy. We are united by the consistent defense of the principles of multilateralism, the primacy of international law, non-intervention in internal affairs of sovereign countries, the rejection of the extra-territorial application of legislation, and the non-use of coups to change governments.”

During his meeting with Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez, Lavrov added that Russian-Venezuelan relations were “at their peak”. He explained that a top-level inter-governmental commission is currently working to deepen “economic, commercial cooperation, and investments” between the two countries. 

For her part, Rodriguez likewise applauded Russia’s “important role” in “ensuring peace and stability all over the world” and criticized “steps aimed at taking advantage of sports in order to achieve political goals, particularly aimed at targeting Russia,” referring to Western calls to strip Moscow of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

According to Rodriguez, the meeting was fruitful in strengthening bilateral ties in a variety of strategic areas.

“Our countries plan to boost cooperation in nuclear medicine and agriculture, there are also plans to cooperate in producing vaccines and medicine in Venezuela,” the top diplomat announced.

Later on Monday, Rodriguez will meet with Russian Energy Minister Alexandr Novak to discuss the oil production cap agreement reached this past December between OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) and non-OPEC members, in which Venezuela played an “important role” according to Lavrov.