MOSCOW, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday reiterated support for his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro and the dialogue between Maduro's government and the opposition.
"We consider any refusal of dialogue to be irrational, harmful to the country and bearing only threats to the welfare of the Venezuelan people," Putin told Maduro at the Kremlin.
Putin and Maduro discussed bilateral relations and key international and regional issues, including the difficult situation in Venezuela, according to an official press release.
Putin said Russian-Venezuelan relations are developing steadily as trade turnover has risen by 10 percent "in recent months."
The increase resulted mainly from Russian grain exports, which amounted to 254,000 tons worth more than 57 million U.S. dollars and are expected to rise further to 600,000 tons this year, according to materials prepared for the Putin-Maduro meeting, as quoted by Russian media.
Russia has invested about 4 billion dollars in the Venezuelan economy, where major joint projects are being implemented, primarily in the energy sector, Putin said.
As for military-technical cooperation, Putin said that Russia is honoring its obligations in carrying out the maintenance of Russian-made equipment in Venezuela, supplying spare parts and creating service centers.
Russia could invest around 1 billion dollars in mining projects in Venezuela, including diamonds and gold production, according to the materials.
Maduro said that the purposes of his working visit were to discuss "what has been done this year, what problems remain, what realities we are facing, how progress is being made in a number of areas, and make plans for the future."
He recalled that a meeting of the high-level intergovernmental commission was held in Moscow in early April, and many of the issues discussed then have been successfully resolved in some areas, including food, health care and energy.
