MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said Tuesday that he was determined to visit Russia in the near future.
"I am also going to visit Russia soon. We will strengthen bilateral relations," Maduro told a press conference in Caracas that was broadcast in the country's embassy in Moscow.
"[Russian President Vladimir] Putin is one of main global leaders who strives for peace," Maduro said.
Russian-Venezuelan cooperation has been on the rise. In late July, Venezuelan Ambassador to Russia Carlos Rafael Faria Tortosa told Sputnik that Venezuela and Russia were working on a project to lay an optical cable between the two countries. He also said that Venezuelan Oil Minister Nelson Martinez had met with Russia's Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin to discuss how to increase the company’s presence in the oil-rich South American country. In early August, Sechin confirmed that Rosneft was planning to expand its energy sector cooperation with Venezuela.
