Venezuela's Maduro to Meet With Putin to Discuss Cooperation, Oil Prices

MOSCOW, January 14 (Sputnik) — Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to meet with his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro on Thursday to discuss the two countries' prospects for bilateral cooperation, as well as the situation around world energy markets, the Russian President's English-language portal eng.Kremlin.ru has reported.

Concrete areas of discussion are set to include the implementation of large-scale joint projects in energy, agriculture, industry, and the banking and finance sectors.

Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitri Peskov told Russian media that Maduro would stop by in Moscow on the invitation of Putin as part of his goodwill trip around the world. Asked whether the two leaders would discuss the falling price of oil, Peskov noted that "the situation around the world price of oil will undoubtedly be touched on, along with other pertinent issues," RIA Novosti explained.

Beginning earlier this month, Maduro has been busy with a series of official visits to China and to several OPEC countries including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Algeria, and Iran, with the aim of "cooperation among the exporting countries aimed at restoring the stability of world oil prices," Sputnik's Spanish-language service has explained.

Maduro announced a plan for economic recovery late last year, against a background of falling oil prices harming the Venezuelan economy. Its main objectives are to safeguard social spending, provide the internal market with goods, and to expand domestic and foreign financing of industry.