(CNN) — Russian President Vladimir Putin shared his assessment of the current situation in Ukraine during a phone call with his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro on Tuesday, the Kremlin reported.
“Vladimir Putin emphasized that the objectives of the special military operation are to protect the civilian population of Donbas, Kyiv’s recognition of the Democratic Republic of Donbas and the Luhansk People’s Republic, as well as Russian sovereignty over Crimea, demilitarization and denazification of the Ukrainian state and guarantee its neutral and non-nuclear state”, says the reading of the phone call between Putin and Maduro.
“Nicolás Maduro expressed strong support for Russia’s decisive actions, condemned the destabilizing activity of the United States and NATO, and emphasized the importance of countering the campaign of lies and disinformation launched by Western countries,” the reading reads.
Both parties agreed to continue contacts between Venezuela and Russia at various levels.
On February 25, after Russia invaded Ukraine, the Maduro government published a statement in which he expressed “his concern about the worsening of the crisis in Ukraine, and regrets the mockery and violation of the Minsk Agreements by NATO promoted by the United States of America”.
“The derailment of these agreements has violated International Law and has generated strong threats against the Russian Federation, its territorial integrity and sovereignty, as well as impeding good relations between neighboring countries,” says the statement published on the official Twitter account of the Russian Federation. questioned president.
Venezuela asked to return to the path of “diplomatic understanding” to avoid an escalation.