Russian minister visits Venezuela, renews cooperation agreements 

Russia’s foreign minister visited Venezuela to meet on Tuesday with top diplomats and other high-level officials and discuss bilateral agreements between the two countries. 

“We fully support the position of our Venezuelan friends,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said during a joint press conference with his Venezuelan counterpart Yvan Gil in Caracas. 

“It is their country... and we are going to support it in any way so that the Venezuelan economy becomes an independent economy from the pressures of the United States and other Western actors,” he added. 

“We are going to continue working to strengthen relations between the Russian Federation and Venezuela, two strategic partners," Gil added.

During his visit, Lavrov and Venezuelan officials reviewed hundreds of bilateral agreements between Russia and the South American country, covering financial, energy, and agricultural sectors. 

The two foreign ministries also said that they are developing an alternative to the SWIFT financial system, to which Russian banks lost access last year as part of sanctions implemented on the Kremlin over the Ukraine war. 

"Our relations have been put to the test by different types of crises, pressure attempts from abroad and, despite everything, they are developing successfully and will continue to develop regardless of the political situation," said Lavrov, referring to the sanctions that have been imposed by the U.S. and other western countries both on Russia and Venezuela. 

“I’m convinced that our experience will be useful for our Venezuelan friends, because we are the world champions in terms of sanctions imposed, and we are gaining experience quickly. So, we are going to share it with our Venezuelan colleagues," he added. 

Lavrov is also expected to meet with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro later during his visit. 

In addition to Venezuela, Lavrov also visited Brazil on Monday and will continue to Cuba and Nicaragua later this week.