Russian Foreign Ministry blames U.S. for failure of talks between Venezuelan govt, opposition
MOSCOW. Sept 20 (Interfax) - The United States is responsible for the failure of talks between the Venezuelan government and the opposition, which have been mediated by Norway, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said at a press briefing on Friday.
"The Americans are blaming the Venezuelan government for failure of the 'Oslo process'. You know, it is hard to imagine a more hypocritical statement. The main reason for the ongoing pause in the talks is obvious: this is exactly the policy of Washington," Zakharova said.
"Please note that following the imposition of additional sanctions [on Venezuela by the United States] on August 5 [Venezuelan President] Maduro said he would continue the talks if the radical opposition condemned the illegal actions taken by the White House. This has not happened," Zakharova said. "Instead [Venezuelan opposition leader] Guaido said that this format of the dialogue had run its course," she said.
"Still the Americans blamed the lawful government for the failure. This is absurd," Zakharova said.
She described the U.S. policy for the region as "totally destructive" and said, "Obviously, the goal of their undertaking is to overthrow undesirable governments."
The talks between the Venezuelan government and Guaido were held with Norway's mediation first in Oslo and then in Barbados.