Source: AFP
Anti-US allies Russia and Venezuela pledged to boost cooperation on oil and gas production and the “peaceful use of nuclear energy” at a meeting of foreign ministers in Caracas on Tuesday.
Russia’s Sergei Lavrov arrived in Venezuela late Monday from Cuba as part of a Latin American tour, as Moscow seeks new diplomatic and trade partners amid Western sanctions and isolation over its war in Ukraine.
In Caracas, Lavrov met his Venezuelan counterpart Yvan Gil and Vice President Delcy Rodriguez and discussed “expanding cooperation in oil production, development of natural gas fields, agriculture, medicine and pharmaceuticals,” he told journalists afterwards.
“We are also thinking of pledging the field of peaceful use of nuclear energy; we also discussed this issue today (and) agreed to increase the volume of cooperation in all these fields,” an official translation of the minister’s remarks read.
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Lavrov last visited Venezuela last April 2023, when he urged like-minded countries to “join forces” against the “blackmail” of Western sanctions.
Venezuela has long been a key ally of Moscow, and Maduro has repeatedly voiced his support for Russia and President Vladimir Putin before and after the invasion of Ukraine.
Russia, for its part, has backed Caracas in the face of US sanctions against Maduro’s government, whose 2018 re-election was not recognized by dozens of countries.
By the end of an oil-based economic boom in 2014, Venezuela had bought hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Russian weapons and military equipment.
“Venezuela is one of (Russia’s) closest and most trusted friends in Latin America and the world … we are united by close strategic ties of partnership,” Lavrov said.
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After Venezuela opened talks with the opposition last year and agreed to hold free and fair elections in 2024, the US eased sanctions to allow Chevron to resume limited oil production in the South American country — part of an effort to keep down global prices. The West pressed sanctions on Russia.
But Maduro has since said the deal with the opposition was “mortally wounded” as he claimed he was the target of a US-backed assassination plot.
And last month, the United States warned it was prepared to reimpose sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry unless Maduro’s opponents were allowed to run against him.
In Havana on Monday, Lavrov had denounced “blackmail, ultimatums, threats” by the United States and other countries, which he said were seeking “by any means … to maintain their sovereignty, hegemony and command”.
Lavrov will travel to Brazil to participate in the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting.
Source: AFP