Russian deputy FM to visit Venezuela

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Friday that he plans to visit the Venezuelan capital of Caracas on July 20-22.

Ryabkov said he will attend a ministerial meeting of the Coordinating Bureau of the Non-Aligned Movement and hold a series of bilateral meetings, but he did not give any names.

Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov gives a press briefing on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, on April 26, 2019, in Moscow. [File Photo: IC/Tass/Mikhail Tereshchenko]

Russia will continue its multifaceted work on the development of allied relations with fraternal Venezuela, he added.

"We will implement projects in different areas and proceed in the framework of existing agreements that will strengthen the capacity of the Venezuelan armed forces," he said.

Ryabkov said the U.S. policy of putting maximum pressure on Venezuela has not changed, and Moscow fears that Washington will continue searching for ways to destabilize the situation in that country.

He reiterated Russia's expectations that the dialogue between the government of President Nicolas Maduro and "sensible opposition figures" will continue, and "attempts to impose one or another political or social model on Venezuela will finally fail."