Venezuela Crisis Will Not Affect Russia-Brazil Relations: Russian Ambassador

Disagreements over Venezuela crisis between Russia and Brazil should not have an adverse effect on bilateral relations and cooperation in the BRICS group. This was stated by the Russian ambassador to Brazil, Sergei Akopov.

“I would quote the words of [Brazil’s] Vice President [Antonio Hamilton] Mourao who was likewise asked that question. He said that we could disagree on individual issues, but that does not mean that we will not build relations in other areas of mutual interest. I believe that is the correct stance. We adhere to the same position as well and expect that the disagreements on the Venezuelan issue that we have will not affect our cooperation in general, for example, within the BRICS group, or our bilateral relations,” Akopov said.

Commenting on reports on the possibility of Brazil’s participation in a potential military operation in Venezuela, Akopov again recalled Mourao’s remarks who ruled out this scenario. “I believe it is not in the interests of Latin American countries to organize a military intervention there, since that would be out of sync with all fundamental principles, on which international relations and foreign policy in the region are built,” he stressed.

On January 23, Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president during an opposition rally in Caracas. Venezuela’s incumbent President Nicolas Maduro described that as an attempted coup.

Russia, Bolivia, Iran, Cuba, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Turkey expressed their support for Maduro, while Belarus and China called for resolving all disagreements peacefully and spoke out against outside interference.

More News at EurAsian Times