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Putin Always Welcome Guest in Venezuela - Vice President

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Venezuelan Minister of Popular Planning Ricardo Menendez said Thursday that Caracas intended to continue cooperating with Russia in the defence sector.
Sputnik

"We have cooperation with Russia in many areas, in the defence sector as well. We have been cooperating, do it now and will maintain it", the official said on the sidelines of the Russian-Venezuelan business forum.

Menendez also stressed that Russian President Vladimir Putin was always a welcomed guest in Caracas.

READ MORE: Events in Venezuela Resemble Onset of Syrian Crisis — Assad to Venezuelan FM

He continued on by saying that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is always ready to visit Russia.

"Our president will certainly continue to come to Russia every time relevant agreements are reached at the top level", Menendez said on the sidelines of a multi-branch Russian-Venezuelan business forum.

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The statement comes after Caracas received humanitarian cargo from Russia, including medicines, medical equipment and consumables at the request of the authorities. 

Venezuela has been torn by a political crisis since January when opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself "interim president" contesting the last elections. Nicolas Maduro, in turn, has called the move an attempt to overthrow him calling Juaido "the US puppet". The self-proclaimed interim president received support from the United States while China, Cuba, Russia and a number of other countries have endorsed Maduro as Venezuela's only legitimate leader.

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