Russia expects Maduro’s visit after his re-election

Moscow. Russia may become one of the first countries to be visited by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro after his re-election, Russian Ambassador to Caracas Sergei Melik-Baghdasarov said.

“As I was told by senior local officials, one of the first places that Nicolas Maduro intends to visit after his re-election is Russia. That’s why we will wait,” Melik-Bagdasarov told Rossiya 24 television channel.

The diplomat also stressed that he considers the failure to recognise the results of the presidential elections in Venezuela to be “an act of interference in the internal affairs of an independent state.”

According to the ambassador, President Maduro’s government and Venezuelans do not care about the subjective assessments of some leaders.

Among other things, Melik-Baghdasarov noted that joint Russian-Venezuelan projects are not under threat following the Venezuelan presidential elections.

“This year we have planned a meeting of a high-level commission that should be held in Caracas in order of priority, and a series of other events of a cultural and (…) economic nature,” the diplomat stressed.

Venezuela held presidential elections on Sunday, July 28.

The National Electoral Council (CNE) on Monday proclaimed the current president, Nicolás Maduro, as president-elect for the 2025-2031 period.

Candidate for the Gran Polo Patriótico coalition (left), Maduro obtained 51.2 percent of the votes, compared to 44.2 percent for Edmundo González, of the opposition Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD, center).

The PUD rejected the results and announced González as “president-elect.”

Some countries such as Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Peru, Panama, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay have refused to recognize Maduro’s re-election, which has already led Caracas to announce the immediate withdrawal of diplomatic personnel.

Other nations, including Brazil and Spain, avoided forceful statements but insisted on verifying the election results “table by table.”

Protests against the election results were reported in several regions of Venezuela on Monday. Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López reported that 23 members of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces were injured in clashes that occurred in the last few hours amid these protests.