Venezuela needs dialogue, not ultimatums, says Russian Foreign Minister.

Sputnik – The international community should be encouraging dialogue between President Nicolás Maduro and the opposition instead of issuing ultimatums, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday (16).

The statements were made in Germany during the Munich Security Conference.

"The crisis in Venezuela is an internal matter for them, and the international community should ask Venezuelans to resolve it amongst themselves," he said.

The Russian Foreign Minister noted that Uruguay, Mexico, Russia, China, Iran, Bolivia, and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) also support dialogue.

However, instead, Lavrov denounced, the West presented an ultimatum consisting of "forcing the legitimately elected president to call new elections and, in parallel, under the same rules invented by the West, Mr. [Juan] Guaidó proclaimed himself interim president."

Venezuela is going through an economic and political crisis that worsened on January 23, after the president of the National Assembly, Juan Guaidó, declared himself interim president of the country.

Venezuelan head of state Nicolás Maduro, who assumed his second term on January 10, described the declaration as an attempted coup by Guaidó and blamed the US.

Guaidó has been recognized by the US, most member countries of the Lima Group, and several nations throughout the Americas, as well as most of the European Union.

Russia, Bolivia, China, Cuba, Iran, Türkiye, and other countries reaffirmed their support for Maduro.