Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro welcomed Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Caracas on Tuesday with open arms, with Lavrov reciprocating by reaffirming Russia's support for the Maduro regime.

The two allies, united by their opposition to the United States as noted by France 24, vowed to boost cooperation in oil and gas production and the "peaceful use of nuclear energy" during the meeting between their foreign ministers at the Venezuelan capital.

Lavrov met with his Venezuelan counterpart Yvan Gil, as well as Vice President Delcy Rodriguez and they discussed "expanding cooperation in oil production, gas field development, agriculture, medicine and pharmaceuticals."

"We also consider promising the area of peaceful use of nuclear energy; we also discussed this issue today (and) we agreed to increase the volume of cooperation in all these areas," he added during a press conference after the meeting.

Last year, Lavrov also visited Venezuela and he and Maduro urged other countries that have been sanctioned by the United States to "join forces" against US efforts to "blackmail" them with sanctions.

Nicolas Maduro has been one of the biggest supporters of Vladimir Putin's Russia and has been a key ally of the nuclear power. Venezuela, under Maduro, was one of the countries that expressed solidarity with Russia even after the country invaded Ukraine.

"Venezuela is one of (Russia's) closest and most trusted friends in Latin America and in the world... we are united by close strategic partnership ties," added Lavrov, whose country has supported the Maduro regime as it faced US sanctions itself.

Discussions Ongoing Between Venezuela and Russia Over Various Matters

Aside from the two countries expressing solidarity with one another amid US sanctions, the two countries are also negotiating other things, such as increasing the number of flights between both countries which are operated by Venezuela's state-owned airline. According to the Associated Press, the two countries are also discussing opening an insulin production plant in Venezuela that uses Russian technology.

"Venezuela and Russia are two countries that are victims on the international stage of the illegal, irrational, illegitimate application of unilateral coercive measures," said Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil, who added that both countries "have woven a close relationship, a functional, structural relationship that allows us today to show concrete results to our people."

Russia Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to Visit Brazil Next, After Venezuela

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is actually on a 3-country tour of Latin America. Before he arrived in Venezuela, he was in Cuba, a long-time Russian ally, since the Cold War. He met President Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez there during his visit.

However, after Caracas, Lavrov's next stop would be Brazil where he is expected to participate in a meeting of foreign ministers of the Group of Twenty (G20) in Rio de Janeiro. He will be spending two days in Brazil for that G20 meeting, according to Loop Caribbean News.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Russian FM visits Caracas, reaffirms support of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro - Associated Press