Moscow expects Venezuelan president to visit this year - Russian deputy PM

MOSCOW. Sept 27 (Interfax) - Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko discussed bilateral cooperation between Russia and Venezuela in a meeting with a group of Venezuelan government members, according to a statement published on the Russian government's website on Friday.

According to the statement, Chernyshenko held a meeting with Venezuela's Executive Vice-President, Vice-President for Economy and Oil Minister Delcy Rodriguez.

"Russian-Venezuelan interaction is on the rise. It is shown by the high dynamics of bilateral contacts, mutual support in a situation of Western pressure on our countries. A top-level meeting is expected to become an important step towards further strengthening of relations," Chernyshenko said. "We will be glad to host President Nicolas Maduro in Moscow this year," Chernyshenko said.

Rodriguez said "cooperation between Russia and Venezuela will become an important step towards the creation of a new world, where our peoples can build a promising future."

"Russia, China and India are our important allies in this matter. Today we have held a number of productive meetings, which emphasized our resolve to strengthen relations between our countries. Venezuela is fully disposed to further development of cooperation with Russia," Rodriguez said.