Russia and China have expressed opposition to any military intervention in Venezuela, calling for “inclusive political dialog” between conflicting parties and their adherence to the principles of international law to resolve the political crisis in the Latin American country.
The expression of stance came in a joint statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, after the conclusion of their talks in Moscow on Wednesday.
Moscow and Beijing aim “to monitor the development of the situation in Venezuela, to call all sides to adhere to the UN Charter, the norms of international law and inter-governmental relations, to respect the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other states, to aid a peaceful solution of the country’s issues by means of inclusive political dialog and to stand against a military intervention in Venezuela,” the statement said.
Venezuela has been in a political chaos in recent months. Things took a turn for the worse when the United States-backed opposition figure Juan Guaido unilaterally declared himself the “interim president” of the country in January.
Russia and China, among other countries, back Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his democratically-elected government.
The US has been propping up Guaido, has recognized his self-proclamation, encouraged his attempts to topple Maduro — including through a recent abortive coup — and has repeatedly refused to rule out military action against the Venezuelan government.
Representatives of the Venezuelan government and opposition have, meanwhile, been attempting to negotiate a peaceful end to their differences in Norway. But those talks have failed so far.
