Maduro welcomed the high diplomat at the Miraflores Palace, seat of the Government, alongside the First Combatant and lawmaker to the National Assembly Cilia Flores, the FM Yvan Gil and the Minister for Petroleum Rafael Tellechea, among other authorities.

That meeting served to evaluate and strengthen the strategic cooperation between the two countries, which in the last 25 years have signed over 340 deals in important sectors such as oil, gas, health, education, technology, agriculture and communication, among others.

Lavrov arrived early Tuesday morning in Caracas as part of his tour of Latin America and the Caribbean, which began on Monday in Cuba and will end in Brazil, where he plans to attend the G20 foreign ministers’ encounter.

The head of Russian diplomacy had a busy agenda, which included the unveiling of a bust of poet and novelist Aleksandr Pushkin in the Ezequiel Zamora Park in the capital.

Lavrov further held talks with Executive Vice President Delcy Rodriguez and his Venezuelan counterpart Yvan Gil, with whom he addressed at a press conference issues of bilateral, regional and world interest.

The Russian FM expressed his willingness to share experiences accumulated in recent years with “our Venezuelan friends.”

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