Moscow, February 14 (RHC)-- Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held a telephone call with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in which he warned against any interference, including military, into Venezuela's internal affairs.

Following the phone call, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Lavrov urged his U.S. counterpart to cease threats by Washington on the use of force to promote a change of government in the South American country.  Earlier, Lavrov offered a press conference in Moscow in which he accused the U.S. of pretending to disguise a military intervention in Venezuela with the arrival of supposed humanitarian aid.

For his part, the Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Riabkov, said on that the government of his country is interested in being part of the International Contact Group that seeks to find a political solution to the situation.  "We raised the issue before the organizers of a conference in Montevideo from the very start," he said.  "We are interested in Russia’s joining it at least as an observer," the senior diplomat added.

The official assured that Russia received a report on how the contact process is going, but insisted on the interest by the Kremlin to participate in the process.