Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said that Venezuela and Russia are "more united than ever" after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the Treaty on Strategic Partnership between the two countries, which brought the agreement into force, the EFE agency reported, quoted by BTA.
""We are moving towards a higher level of cooperation", said a statement by Maduro, broadcast on Venezuelan public television. "The historic and strategic alliance that President Putin signed and that I signed here in Venezuela is for peace, for development", he added.
Maduro explained that the agreement is not just words and is not a simple document. According to him, a "large-scale meeting" is planned today between hundreds of business leaders from highly developed Russian industries and Venezuelan entrepreneurs. The Venezuelan president did not provide further details about the meeting.
The Kremlin confirmed yesterday that Putin had signed the agreement with Caracas, which expands cooperation between the two countries in the political, economic, energy, mining, transport and communications sectors, as well as in the field of security and the fight against terrorism.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that the entry into force of the treaty was "very important in the current circumstances, in which Venezuela is facing unprecedented pressure, including direct military pressure from the United States".
In recent months, Washington has deployed US warships to the Caribbean.
During a meeting with the Venezuelan ambassador to Russia yesterday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, for his part, expressed Moscow's solidarity with Caracas "against the backdrop of growing external threats and attempts at interference".