Tue 08 March 2022:
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro says he and US officials agreed on a framework for future talks after meeting with a delegation from Washington over the weekend, the first high-level meetings between the two countries in years.
“Last Saturday night a delegation from the government of the United States of America arrived in Venezuela, I received it here at the presidential palace,” Maduro said in a broadcast on state media on Monday. “We had a meeting, I could describe it as respectful, cordial, very diplomatic,” he added.
The meeting in the capital, Caracas, lasted two hours, he said, without specifying the topics discussed or who the US delegates were.
According to the White House, the objective of the trip is to discuss a variety of topics, including “energy security” and the cases of nine US nationals imprisoned in Venezuela.
“Obviously, we’re going to continue to do everything we can to bring anyone who is detained in Venezuela or any other part of the world home, but they happen through different tracks,” Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters. “They’re all a part of the conversation with Venezuela writ large, but not at the same time,” she said.
The visit to Caracas comes as Washington strives to isolate Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine.
Maduro, with whom the United States severed ties in 2019, was one of the few international figures to guarantee Russian President Vladimir Putin of his “strong support” in the aftermath of the invasion.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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