Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro (right) shakes hands with Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov (left) this Tuesday, April 18, 2023, at Miraflores Palace in Caracas. Photo: Presidential Press.
Caracas, April 19, 2023 (OrinocoTribune.com)—Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov met with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro at Miraflores Palace on the night of Tuesday, April 18, after an intense work agenda in Caracas, before departing towards Nicaragua, where he arrived this Wednesday as part of his Latin American tour.
Lavrov arrived in Caracas this Tuesday and held meetings with Venezuelan authorities, including the minister for foreign affairs, Yván Gil, and vice president, Delcy RodrĂguez. Issues including energy agreements, illegal western sanctions, MIR cards (local payment cards sponsored by the Russian National Payment Card System), de-dollarization, education, and multipolarity were among the topics of significance discussed during these meetings.
Russia’s FM Lavrov Meets With Venezuela’s VP Rodriguez and FM Gil in Caracas
While in Caracas, the Russian diplomat also met with the president of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, and with Bolivia’s minister for foreign affairs, Rogelio Mayta, making use of their presence in Caracas for other bilateral meetings with Venezuelan authorities, as reported by Kawsachun News.
🇷🇺🇻🇨 Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov adds another high-level meeting to his Latin America tour, meeting today with Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, @ComradeRalph, in Caracas. pic.twitter.com/eus9fuIXjp
— Kawsachun News (@KawsachunNews) April 19, 2023
🇷🇺🇧🇴 Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, met in Caracas with the Bolivian Minister of Foreign Affairs, @RogelioMayta_Bo, as part of his diplomatic tour of Latin America. pic.twitter.com/9nLZUb4Z9s
— Kawsachun News (@KawsachunNews) April 19, 2023
The Russian foreign minister was accompanied by Russian ambassador to Caracas Sergey Melik-Bagdasarov, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Sergey Ryabkov, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Maria Zakharova, Director of Foreign Policy Planning Alexey Drobinin, and Director of the Latin American Department Aleksander Shchetinin. Lavrov conveyed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s best wishes and greetings, as well as an invitation for President Maduro to visit Russia.
Also present in the meeting accompanying Maduro were his wife and deputy for the National Assembly, Cilia Flores, Foreign Minister Yván Gil, Deputy Foreign Minister for Europe Franklin Ramirez, and Venezuelan ambassador to Moscow Jesús Salazar Velásquez.
Grata visita a nuestro paĂs del Ministro de Asuntos Exteriores de la FederaciĂłn de Rusia, SerguĂ©i Lavrov, con quien sostuvimos una amena reuniĂłn que afianza las relaciones bilaterales y el mapa de cooperaciĂłn conjunta en diversas áreas del desarrollo de nuestras naciones. pic.twitter.com/vnTCIs9qVH
— Nicolás Maduro (@NicolasMaduro) April 19, 2023
“A pleasant visit to our country by the minister for foreign affairs of the Russian Federation, Sergey Lavrov,” wrote President Nicolás Maduro on his social media accounts after the meeting, “with whom we held a pleasant meeting that strengthened bilateral relations and consolidated the framework for joint cooperation in various areas of development for our nations.”
The meeting, held in the Presidential Office in Miraflores Palace, ended without statements to the media, close to midnight.
Orinoco Tribune Special by staff
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