The United States' oil embargo against Venezuela threatens millions of Venezuelans' lives, health and well-being and must be condemned as a violation of international law, Russian Ambassador to Venezuela Sergey Melik-Bagdasarov said in Caracas on Friday.
Speaking after a meeting with Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil, Melik-Bagdasarov emphasized that oil is like the "blood" of Venezuela's economy, and "draining the blood of the Venezuelan economy" means endangering its people's lives and health.
He said that Venezuela has consistently expressed its willingness to sell oil at fair market prices to all foreign trading partners, including the United States. However, Washington's neocolonialist and command-and-control approach clearly is impeding the normalization of supplies to the global market.
Melik-Bagdasarov said that during the meeting, he and Foreign Minister Gil discussed bilateral relations and ways to further develop cooperation, reiterating Russia's support for the Venezuelan government and its people.
Russian ambassador slams illegal US oil embargo on Venezuela
