From Russia, Mike Pompeo asked Maduro to leave power and ruled out a war with Iran

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said after a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov that "the time has come for Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to step down".

"The United States and more than 50 countries believe that the time has come for Maduro to leave power," Pompeo said at a joint press conference with Lavrov at Sochi's spa on the Black Sea.

Pompeo, whose country supports the leader of the opposition, Juan Guaidó, who heads the National Assembly (Parliament) and has been recognized president of this country by more than 50 nations, believes that Maduro must resign for "To put an end to the suffering of the Venezuelan people".

In addition, he badured that Washington was absolutely opposed to any interference by the country in the affairs of Venezuela. Therefore, he asked Moscow to stop supporting the chavist regime.

"We hope that Russian support for Maduro is over", he said while referring to the great economic and energy interests of Russia in Venezuela.

He said the position of the United States was that Venezuelans should choose their leaders, although he stressed that the country of Latin America must be a democracy.

For his part, Lavrov replied that "you can not establish a democracy by force". The Russian minister accused the United States and Guaidó of continually resorting to threats of possible military interventionwhich, in his opinion, "has nothing to do with democracy".

The two men also discussed the crisis with Iran over its nuclear program, and Mr. Pompeo said the United States was not planning a war against the Persian country, but warned that diplomatic pressure on this country would continue.

This is the first visit of the Secretary of State to Russia. Later, he will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin.