Russia warns US against intervening in Venezuela

Russia warns US against intervening in Venezuela

"We warn against this. We believe that this would be a catastrophic scenario that would shake the foundations of the development model we see in the Latin American region", Ryabkov said in an interview with the International Affairs magazine.

The Deputy Foreign Minister stressed that Moscow would support Caracas on the matter, also regretting that the Organization of American States "was to a large extent involved in this" and "added fuel to the fire".

"As we see how the situation in Venezuela develops, we note the willingness of a certain group of countries, including the United States, to use different platforms such as the Organization of American States, to increase pressure on our ally Venezuela under different pretexts… But we have always supported and will support friendly Venezuela that is our strategic partner", he stated.

The official also underlined that Washington uses pressure, blackmail, and bribery in order to force other countries stop their cooperation with Russia.

At the same time, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed Moscow’s position on the legitimacy of Nicolas Maduro, ruling out the need to grant the rightful president any kind of political asylum.

"Maduro is the legitimate president of Venezuela, therefore we consider the question inappropriate," Peskov said.

After several days of protests in cities throughout Venezuela, held by those who do not recognize Maduro as president, Juan Guaido, an opposition leader and speaker of the National Assembly - the only body controlled by the opposition - declared himself president of Venezuela.

Maduro claims that it is a coup that the United States are behind. So far, Russia and Turkey have supported Maduro, as has the Venezuelan military, while the US, Canada, and some other countries recognized Guaido as president.

At the same time, clashes between demonstrations and forces of order continued, reportedly producing casualties.