CARACAS, Venezuela — Russia's foreign minister visited Venezuela on Friday in a show of support for President Nicolás Maduro as mounting pressure from Washington threatens to cut off the socialist leader from a key financial ally in Moscow. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's stop in Caracas follows a trip by Venezuelan opposition politician Juan Guaidó to Washington, where officials in the Trump administration say they're preparing to redouble efforts to force out Maduro. Washington earlier this week said that the Trump administration will soon decide whether to impose penalties on Russia's powerful state oil company Rosneft, an important financial lifeline to Maduro. The U.S. backs Guaidó, who has been embraced in Washington by Republicans and Democrats. Guaidó is on an international tour that took him to Colombia, across Europe and to Canada, where he rallied support among world leaders.

Source: International New York Times February 07, 2020 14:26 UTC