US requests UN vote on Venezuela for Thursday

The United States has requested a vote on Thursday at the UN Security Council on a draft resolution calling for presidential elections in Venezuela and unimpeded deliveries of humanitarian aid, diplomats said.

Russia and China, who support President Nicolas Maduro, are likely to veto the measure that "expresses deep concern about the actions of a regime that have caused an economic collapse," diplomats said.

The draft resolution, seen by AFP, calls for "free, fair and credible presidential elections," with the presence of international observers, and describes the May vote in which Maduro was declared the winner as "neither free nor fair."