Dozens of individuals have been killed and almost 680,000 have fled Ukraine since warfare started.

Caracas:

In uncommon backing for Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro on Tuesday assured Vladimir Putin of his “strong support” in a phone name, in keeping with a Kremlin assertion.

In the decision initiated by Caracas, the Venezuelan chief additionally condemned “destabilizing actions of the United States and NATO” and spoke out towards a Western marketing campaign of “lies and disinformation,” it mentioned.

Dozens of individuals have been killed and almost 680,000 have fled Ukraine since Putin ordered his troops into the nation final week after failing to get ensures that NATO won’t increase its army alliance eastward.

In the decision with Maduro, Putin insisted the aims of the army assault had been to “protect the civilian population” of the Donbass separatist area and to get Kiev to acknowledge Russian sovereignty over Crimea, which it annexed in 2014.

It additionally sought to make sure a “neutral and non-nuclear” Ukrainian place in the direction of Russia, mentioned the assertion.

After the decision, Maduro revealed a message on Twitter with {a photograph} of him and Putin, and mentioned he additionally instructed the Russian chief Venezuela was “in favor of understanding and dialogue as a way to preserve peace.”

Venezuela, together with Cuba and Nicaragua — all targets of United States sanctions — are Latin American allies of Moscow.

The United States and dozens of different international locations don’t acknowledge Maduro’s 2018 reelection, which they are saying was fraudulent.

During an interview in December, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov wouldn’t rule out Moscow sending forces to Venezuela or Cuba if diplomacy failed with the United States over Ukraine.

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