Pompeo Calls on Russia to Support Guaidó as Venezuela's Legitimate President

The U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has announced that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has been urged to support Juan Guaidó as the legitimate president of Venezuela. This was reported by the RIA Novosti agency. Pompeo emphasized that as long as President Nicolás Maduro remains in power, the crisis in Venezuela will continue.

“We have appealed to the Russian leadership with a request to support Juan Guaidó, in order to ensure free and fair elections in the country,” Pompeo stated.

On January 23, during an opposition protest in Caracas, leader Juan Guaidó declared himself the interim president. To date, Guaidó has been recognized as Venezuela's legitimate president by the United States, Canada, and several Latin American countries. Russia, on the other hand, supports the current president Maduro.