Dialogue between the United States and Russia on the Venezuelan crisis is "difficult, but open"

After the first meeting in Rome between the US and Russian delegations on the Venezuelan crisis, the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Sergey RyabkovHe badured that the dialogue with Washington is "difficult, but open".

"We are convinced of the need to continue the dialogue with the United States," the Russian diplomat told reporters after meeting with Elliott Abrams, the North American leader of Venezuela.

This Tuesday was the first meeting between representatives of the two countries, who have diametrically opposed positions on the crisis in Venezuela.

Russia is one of the dictator's great allies Nicolás Maduro, while the United States has hardened its position against the chavist regime by sanctions and diplomatic actions.

"These are fruitful conversations," said Ryabkov, who acknowledged that "today, we can not bring our positions closer, especially on issues of principle."

"We have better understood their vision and felt the pulse of the American position"He maintained.

During his stay in Rome, Ryabkov also met with "representatives" of the Italian government to discuss the Venezuelan crisis.

"We understand the specificity of the Italian position, which has been agreed with the other countries of the European Union and with the international contact group," said the deputy minister.

The Italian government favors elections "as soon as possible" in Venezuela, does not recognize the opposition, Juan Guaidó, as interim president and considers that the presidential elections of last May do not attribute a democratic legitimacy to the winner, but to Nicolás Maduro. .

The Russian Deputy Minister also thanked Italy for its position against any use of force to solve the crisis in this country.

For the diplomat, Italy "can make an important contribution" in search of an outcome to the Venezuelan situation and could collaborate so that "the opposition has more constructive positions in terms of dialogue with the authorities of Caracas".

Ryabkov acknowledged that "with Italy, there are divergences on the approach to the crisis in Venezuela, such as the legitimacy of Maduro". "But we are open to any dialogue mechanism and we think it is necessary to intensify our contacts to avoid negative scenarios," he added.

The Rome meeting was confirmed in a statement from the US State Department.

The US official also highlighted China and Cuba.

In his speech, Poblete stressed that "the aggressive actions and disregard of Russia have upset the European security architecture" by all kinds of actions, such as "continue to support and defend the brutal tactics of the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad against his own people, including the use of chemical weapons. "

But "Damascus is not the only odious regime that supports Russia, but also that of Maduro in Venezuela."