Maduro may be on his last legs after Russia removed all but a couple of dozen people from that country, down from 1,000. If they are talking to the opposition, we know that the opposition will not agree to anything that leaves Maduro in the country.
I also seriously doubt that the opposition would align itself with Russia after their experience with socialism. So, it’s kind of hard for me to understand what Russia hopes to achieve. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov tried to negotiate a deal to leave Maduro in power but make minor concessions to the opposition.
Venezuelan president, Juan Guaidó, turned down the offer flatly.
Lavrov claimed he had spoken with Guaidó about a proposal known as the “Montevideo Mechanism,” but complained that he was being “manipulated by the U.S.” after he rejected the idea.
“During these conversations, we reaffirmed our position in favor of a national dialogue, expressed disagreement with the fact that in response to the call by the ‘Montevideo Mechanism’ to start such a dialogue, when President [Nicolas] Maduro agreed, [opposition leader Juan] Guaido haughtily refused,” Lavrov told the Russian media outlet RBC.
According to Venezuelan state media, the “Montevideo Mechanism” is a four-phase negotiation aimed at resolving differences between the socialist regime and the opposition.
Lavrov also claimed that a new round of talks between Guaidó, who became the legitimate president of Venezuela in January, and Maduro had occurred in Norway, and that it was a “step in the right direction” despite yielding no results.
Shortly after Lavrov’s comments, Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed supporters of Guaidó as “crazy.”