Venezuela affirmed its support for Russia amid the Ukrainian crisis, during the Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov's visit to Venezuela.

Venezuelan Oil Minister Tareck El Aissami spoke on behalf of President Nicolas Maduro and the Venezuelan people to affirm support to the Russian people and the Russian Federation, especially President Vladimir Putin.

He added that Russia is a power that has put its scientific, technological, industrial, and energy development at the service of humanity.

In response to Aissami, Borisov stated that Venezuela is a strategic partner of Russia in Latin America and the world, expressing his appreciation for this partnership and dialogue of confidence at the political level.

This visit comes in the context of the current Ukrainian crisis, where Western capitals and Kyiv accuse Russia of massing forces on the border with Ukraine, in preparation of an alleged invasion, which Moscow denies, considering these accusations as pretexts to increase the military presence in Eastern Europe and to expand NATO in the east toward the Russian borders.