Russia urges US to abandon 'irresponsible' plan to overthrow Maduro's regime

Irresponsible plans by the United States to overthrow Nicolas Maduro's regime by force would disrupt the prospect of a political settlement in Venezuela, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Sunday.

Speaking at the start of a meeting with Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza in Moscow, Lavrov said, "Attempts to stage a violent upheaval in Caracas have nothing to do with the democratic process, and only disrupt any prospects of political settlement," reported Russia Today.

The Russian Foreign Minister added that political and civil unrest prevalent in the Latin American country could only be solved through "inclusive political dialogue" and not by the attempts of "power grab."

Meanwhile, in an interview to a US television channel ABC, US Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo on Sunday bluntly said that President Trump has a "full range" of powers to intervene at will in Venezuelan.

"The president has his full range of Article 2 authorities and I'm very confident that any action we took in Venezuela would be lawful," Pompeo stated when asked if President Trump could intervene in the country's power struggle without congressional approval.

The statement came ahead of a meeting with Sergey Lavrov in Finland's northern city of Rovaniemi on Monday.

Russia and the US have taken diametrically opposed stands in Venezuela's political crisis. The two countries have traded warnings against each other's interference in the country's affairs.

Venezuela has been in the throes of a political crisis, which was accelerated when Guaido declared himself as the President of the nation in January. The US immediately recognised him as the interim President, demanding Maduro to step down.

Maduro continues to hold on to his post despite several countries calling for his resignation. Venezuela is also facing an acute economic and humanitarian crisis at the moment, which is worsened by repeated sanctions from the US.