According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the opposition in Venezuela is highly influenced by foreign forces and has been prohibited from contacting the government.

"The United States and its closest allies are creating the most serious obstacles to the possibility of international assistance in resolving the crisis in Venezuela", Lavrov said Tuesday.

The minister stressed that Moscow would do everything in its power to support the lawful authorities in Caracas. He also noted that the calls for open intervention in Venezuela were surging in the United States when addressing the recent news about National Security Adviser John Bolton holding a note with the words "5,000 troops to Colombia".

Bolton was earlier photographed with a yellow pad that raised questions about the White House's alleged plans to deploy US troops to Colombia, Venezuela's neighbour.

U.S. sanctions on Caracas

Lavrov has addressed the "cynical sanctions", imposed by the US on the Venezuelan petroleum company PDVSA, stressing that the move shall lead to the deterioration of the international financial system, based on the US dollar, and also provoke a conflict in Venezuela.

"The US, unfortunately, has experience in such illegitimate handling of other’s money. Such freezing was applied at one time to Iraq, Libya, Iran, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Panama. In most cases, this freezing essentially resulted in the confiscation of assets from another government. The British authorities are doing the same thing now by arresting, and in fact confiscating, the gold reserves of Venezuela, which are stored in London", he stated.

The minister added that US companies operating in Venezuela had been excluded from the sanctions regime, highlighting that the US wanted to overthrow the government and also gain profits in Venezuela.

The situation in the Latin American country escalated last week after Juan Guaido, the speaker of the opposition-controlled Venezuelan National Assembly, declared himself the interim president. Washington and some other nations hastened to recognise him as the head of Venezuela, also introducing a new round of sanctions against Caracas. Other countries, including Russia, China, and Turkey, have vowed to back the legal government of President Nicolas Maduro.