Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has expressed full support for his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, for recent actions and has urged for diplomatic solutions to the Ukrainian crisis.
“I declare my full support for Putin, everyone should resort to diplomacy,” Maduro said on Wednesday in response to recent actions on Ukraine.
Tension escalated in Donbass days ago, when Ukrainian forces and the Donetsk and Lugansk authorities exchanged mutual accusations of violating the ceasefire agreement, and areas in Donbass province were subjected to artillery shelling.
Russia’s decision to recognise the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics was met with Western sanctions, most notably Germany’s announcement to suspend the approval of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to transport Russian gas to Europe through Germany.
The conflict in Donbass between the Ukrainian Government and the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics has been going on since 2014.
Negotiations under the Minsk Agreements, dedicated to a political solution to the conflict, were held in February 2015. However, the agreement has not yet been complied with and clashes continue at various times.
Moscow has repeatedly stated that Kiev does not abide by the Minsk agreements and delays negotiations to resolve the conflict.
The decision by the Russian Federation to officially recognise the independence of the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Lugansk People’s Republic has been met with support from various countries across the world. Notably, the National Salvation Government of Yemen expressed its support for the move, alongside Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, Belarus and South Ossetia.
