MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Wednesday signed a strategic partnership agreement in a ceremony shown on state TV.
The two leaders also discussed energy and oil during their talks in Moscow, Russia’s Interfax news agency reported.
In the agreement, Russia and Venezuela said they would promote joint initiatives within OPEC +, the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, and other organisations in the energy sector.
“The parties will promote the balanced and stable long-term development of global energy markets without the use of unfair competition instruments,” the agreement said.
They agreed to cooperate in the exploration and development of new oil and gas fields in their joint ventures as well as to expand oil trading operations.
The document also envisages closer cooperation between Russia and Venezuela at the United Nations and other organisations and in the area of arms control, along with joint opposition to the imposition of unilateral sanctions.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov earlier described the strategic agreement as a “weighty, substantial and very important framework document”.
Russia’s three-year-old war in Ukraine has led to a breakdown in its relations with most Western states and prompted Moscow to strengthen ties with other countries that share its desire to counter the influence of what the Kremlin calls the “collective West”, including the United States.
Since 2022, Russia has already signed strategic partnership pacts with China, North Korea and Iran.
Venezuela has a fraught recent history with the United States, marked by broken diplomatic relations, sanctions and accusations of criminal activity and coup-plotting.
During his visit to Moscow, Maduro is also due to attend commemorative events around the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet Union and its allies over Nazi Germany, including a military parade on Friday.
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Andrew Osborn and Gareth Jones)
