Russian, Venezuelan foreign ministers to meet in Moscow

MOSCOW – Russian state news agencies say Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is to meet with his Venezuelan counterpart on Sunday, a day before Lavrov is to meet the U.S. secretary of state amid growing tensions over the Venezuela crisis.

The meeting with Jorge Arreaza will take place in Moscow, state news agency Tass cited the foreign ministry as saying.

Russia supports Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, while the United States regards opposition leader Juan Guaidó as the country’s interim president. Washington and Moscow accuse each other of interfering in Venezuela’s internal affairs, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has raised the prospect of U.S. military intervention.

Lavrov and Pompeo are to meet Monday in Finland on the sidelines of an Arctic Council session.