Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has told US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that Washington’s attempts to stage a coup in Venezuela are a blatant interference in the country’s domestic affairs, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported on Monday following Lavrov-Pompeo phone call, TASS reported.

"Lavrov emphasized that Washington’s attempts to stage a coup in Venezuela and threats against its legitimate government were a violation of the UN Charter and blatant interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state," the ministry noted.

Touching upon the situation in Ukraine, Lavrov drew attention to the unacceptability of Washington’s backing the Kiev regime up in sabotaging the implementation of the Minsk accords to resolve the internal Ukrainian conflict.

Noting the fundamental differences in the positions of Russia and the US, the heads of the foreign affairs agencies agreed to continue contacts and the exchange of assessments on the aforementioned and other international issues, as well as on problematic aspects of bilateral relations.

As the State Department said earlier, Pompeo told Lavrov that "the United States and the  regional countries will not stand idly by as Russia exacerbates tensions in Venezuela." 

The State Department statement also condemned Russian military support for the “illegitimate regime of Nicolas Maduro.”
Juan Guaido, Venezuelan opposition leader and parliament speaker declared himself interim president of Venezuela. The United States, a number of European and Latin American countries recognized Guaido as the president of Venezuela. 

Russia and China consider President Nicolas Maduro to be the legitimate president of the country.