Strategic partnership between Russia and Venezuela goes into force
Russia and Venezuela have entered into a strategic partnership intended to expand their cooperation in the areas of energy, mining, transport and security.
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the agreement, thereby bringing it into force, the state news agency TASS reported on Monday.
“The agreement takes Russian-Venezuelan relations to a fundamentally new level and covers all important areas of bilateral cooperation,” said Russian Parliament Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin.
Putin and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro agreed to move ahead with the strategic partnership during the Venezuelan head of state’s visit to Moscow in May.
The US accuses the authoritarian president of being directly involved in drug trafficking and has put a bounty of $50 million on his head.
Maduro’s government in Caracas is currently under considerable pressure from Washington
For several weeks now, US forces off the coast of Venezuela have been attacking speedboats suspected of smuggling drugs into the United States.
Maduro recently warned against direct US military intervention in the South American country and said Trump is fabricating a war against him.
Alongside Cuba, Nicaragua and China, Russia is Venezuela’s most important ally.
