The United States proposed to Russia to hold separate talks on Venezuela, and Moscow agreed, but Washington has started to use far-fetched pretexts to avoid these consultations, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said in an interview published on Tuesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th February, 2019) The United States proposed to Russia to hold separate talks on Venezuela, and Moscow agreed, but Washington has started to use far-fetched pretexts to avoid these consultations, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said in an interview published on Tuesday.
"The United States proposed that a hold separate consultations on Venezuelan issues. We agreed. However, they have been using far-fetched pretexts to move away from holding [the consultations] since then, each time postponing the agreed deadlines," Patrushev told the Russian Argumenty i Fakty newspaper.
Venezuela is currently going through a political crisis. On January 5, lawmaker Juan Guaido was elected as the president of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, which all other government branches have been refusing to recognize since 2016.
On January 23, two days after the Venezuelan Supreme Court annulled his election, Guaido declared himself the country's "interim president." Nicolas Maduro, who was sworn in for his second presidential term on January 10 after winning the May election, which part of the opposition boycotted, qualified Guaido's move as an attempt to stage a coup orchestrated by Washington.
The United States immediately recognized Guaido, after which some 50 other countries followed suit. Russia, China, Cuba, Bolivia and a number of other states have, in the meantime, voiced their support for the legitimate government of Maduro. Mexico and Uruguay have refused to recognize Guaido, declaring themselves neutral and promoting crisis settlement via dialogue.
