US, EU condone their own 'economic suicide' through sanctions: Maduro

• 

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has labeled the US' and the EU's endless sanctions against Russia as 'economic suicide', per his statement on Tuesday, highlighting that “Europe and the US have chosen economic suicide, trying to kill Russia. Europe and the US have decreed the economic and social suicide of their economy, to finish off Russia". 

According to Ultimas Noticias, citing AVN, Maduro blamed the US and the EU's own economic downfall for their implementation of packages of sanctions that led to their near-recession fears as well as being the two worst to bear the brunt of the energy crisis, adding: “They prefer energy crises, blackouts, the economic crisis, unleashed inflation to negotiating peace with Russia". 

The US has not only heavily sanctioned Russian gas, oil, gold and jewelry, but has so far gone as to sanction individuals after running low, as they placed embargoes on nearly every Russian politician, official, and business. The EU took a different and perhaps more deteriorating route by not merely joining in on those packages of sanctions, but also introducing a visa ban on Russian citizens - prohibiting them from acquiring a Schengen visa needed to enter Europe. 

Some countries have demanded collective action last month to stop ordinary Russians from traveling to the EU on tourist visas, in the latest challenge for the bloc as it tries to punish Moscow for its military operation in Ukraine while maintaining unity among its 27 members. Countries including the Czech Republic and Poland stopped issuing visas to Russian tourists shortly after the start of the war in Ukraine in February. They have since demanded that Brussels enact a complete ban, echoing a plea from Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.

In light of that, Maduro agreed to the establishment of an international commission initiated by Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador at the UN, intended to promote 'fair' and 'for peace' negotiations and dialogue between Russia and Ukraine as he urged the criticality of the matter: "We must reactivate the mechanisms of diplomacy, dialogue, politics, and not let a conflict continue to escalate". 

He later warned of a "world war of a nuclear nature" if the war in Ukraine is not cut short, expressing that "humanity cries out for peace, understanding, dialogue and diplomacy and we from Venezuela cry out for dialogue, diplomacy and peace". 

During the speech of Venezuelan Chancellor Carlos Faría at the 77th United Nations General Assembly, the Venezuelan government demanded an end to the persecutional and economical sanctions against Nicaragua, 'sister' Cuba, Iran, and Russia - derived from a letter sent by President Nicolas Maduro.

Despite incessant economic embargoes against Venezuela, the South American nation continues to be on the top of the growth record in the global economy, especially after its latest collaboration with Iran for the manufacturing of four Iranian cars as part of the Venezuela-Iran 20-year cooperation strategy that was initiated in 2020 for the expansion of energy projects and oil trade to brush off US sanctions.