Russia not building military base in Venezuela: Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said that his country has no plans to send troops or build a military base in crisis-hit Venezuela.

"Russian military experts in Venezuela are in line with the contract which was signed earlier," Anadolu News Agency quoted Putin as saying to heads of international news agencies here.

This comes days after US President Donald Trump had tweeted that Russia "removed most of their people" from the Latin American nation. Moscow has, however, denied the claims.

It may be noted that Russia has backed the Nicolas Maduro regime ever since the political turmoil began in Venezuela in January. The country has been firm in its backing in spite of the fact that Maduro's government has been opposed by more than 50 countries, including the US, Canada and the UK.

The political turmoil began when Maduro was sworn in for a second term after an election that has since been termed by a majority of international communities as "rigged."

The crisis took a sudden twist after Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido proclaimed himself as the acting President amid appeals for Maduro to step down.

Meanwhile, Putin underlined that all stakeholders should come together to resolve the crisis.

"Even the US allies do not support military intervention in Venezuela. Interference in internal affairs of other countries may cause serious and sometimes tragic results," he said.

The US has been pursuing a policy of economic sanctions and diplomatic isolation against the Maduro government in support of Guaido.

( With inputs from ANI )