BATTLE FOR WORLD / SPUTNIK NEWS | March 30, 2019: The article highlights that US-Venezuela special representative Elliott Abrams threatened Russia with new sanctions on Friday (March 29) over Russia's military cooperation with Venezuela, saying the Kremlin would be made to "pay a price" for its assistance to the Latin American country. Moscow and Caracas say their cooperation is in full accordance with existing defense agreements and international law.

The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova blasted Washington [DC] over its "ridiculous" "attempts to intimidate" Russia over its legitimate cooperation with Venezuela in defense.

And the Foreign Ministry on Saturday said: "The arrival of Russian military-technical cooperation experts in Venezuela continues to provoke a nervous reaction in Washington. [US officials] have even begun saying that the US would consider the appearance of the representatives of armed forces from countries outside the Western Hemisphere [in Venezuela] as a provocative action posing a threat to regional peace and security."

"For our part, we can only recommend that the US stop threatening Venezuela, strangling its economy and pushing for civil war, in open violation of international law. We call on all Venezuelan political forces who put the interests of their country above their own personal ambitions to engage in dialogue, and are prepared to assist in such dialogue in any way possible," said Zakharova.

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