Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that Russia would warn Washington against interfering in Venezuela’s affairs at a meeting with US Special Representative for Venezuela Elliott Abrams on 19 March in Rome.
“We will warn the United States against forceful intervention and other forms of unlawful influence on the legitimate authority in Caracas,” the diplomat said. “Of course, we will explain why efforts should be made so that the intra-Venezuelan dialogue still begins.”
The crisis in Venezuela escalated in January when Juan Guaido was elected president of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, which all other government branches have been refusing to recognize since 2016. Guaido then declared himself the country’s “interim president”, gaining almost immediate support from the United States and its allies.