Russia, Venezuela opposition have 'occasional' contacts

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Moscow has contacts with the Venezuelan opposition in a format "understandable" for the country's President Nicolas Maduro, Russia’s deputy foreign minister said on Monday.

Russia does not shrink from any contacts as it considers the exchange of information "useful for everyone," Sergey Ryabkov told state-run news agency RIA Novosti in the capital Moscow.

"These are contacts aimed at exchanging information, and bringing firsthand the positions and approaches that are being worked out," he said.

“But this is not a parallel channel, this is not a permanent dialogue, it is occasional, I would say episodic communication, nothing more.”

The top diplomat said no Russian-U.S. contacts are planned on the Venezuelan issue as their positions are "too different."

Venezuela has been rocked by protests since January, when Maduro was sworn in for a second term as president following a vote boycotted by the opposition.

Tensions escalated when opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself acting president, a move supported by the U.S. and many European and Latin American countries. Russia, Turkey, China, Iran, Bolivia and Mexico have thrown their weight behind Maduro.