"We will do everything we can to make Venezuela's economy less and less dependent on the whims and geopolitical games of the US or any over actors from the Western camp. And I am convinced that our experience will come in handy for our Venezuelan friends because we are now the world champion in the number of sanctions, and we are gaining experience quickly," Lavrov told a briefing after talks with Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil Pinto.
Lavrov added that Venezuela's hydrocarbons and economy are subject to "strongest illegal sanctions."
"It is their country [Venezuela], it is their hydrocarbons, it is their economy, which is subject to the strongest illegal sanctions. They have to decide for themselves how to keep working, how to keep developing their state," the minister said.
The Venezuelan foreign minister told the meeting that Caracas "is always against restrictive measures, both against Venezuela and against other countries," adding that "the US has been pursuing a policy of systematic attacks on our economy to destroy it despite numerous promises to promote dialogue among Venezuelans."
"We haven't seen the announced US easing of sanctions, and the recovery of our economy has been achieved through our own efforts, which has found the support of such states as the Russian Federation, Asian, African, and Latin American countries," the minister said, adding that "until the last sanction against the Venezuelan economy is lifted we cannot talk about the normalization of relations between the countries."
Lavrov noted that Russia and Venezuela agreed to enhance cooperation in the field of new technologies, oil production, and the development of gas fields.
"We have numerous projects planned in the fields of oil production, development of gas fields, agriculture, medicine and pharmaceuticals, communications, space, and new technologies - we will increase the volume and pace of cooperation in all these areas and will continue to make active use of the existing mechanisms for this purpose, including the high-level intergovernmental commission," the Russian foreign minister said.
He added that the parties agreed on practical measures to expand trade and investment cooperation and contacts between businesses while taking into account current realities.
Moscow and Caracas have advanced in the development of a system of exchange of financial messages, bypassing SWIFT and the use of Russia's MIR payment system in Venezuela, the Venezuelan foreign minister told the joint press conference.
"Good news for Venezuelan agricultural producers in aspects related to the regulation of food exports and imports, and we are also seeing progress in terms of the financial information exchange system. It is being created and is an alternative to the international company SWIFT. Two central banks [Russian and Venezuelan] are working on it, as well as on MIR cards, which will allow Russian tourists to pay directly in Venezuela, bypassing large multinational corporations," he said, adding that "this [discussion] is developing, it will be part of a high-level discussion in the framework of the intergovernmental commission next week in Russia. Soon we will bring good news to the peoples of Russia and Venezuela."
Russia and Venezuela agreed to move forward in all areas of bilateral and international cooperation, "especially in the aspects of energy, which are very important, finance, air and sea transport, and trade," the Venezuelan foreign minister noted.
Prior to the meeting, Venezuelan Foreign Ministry stated that Russia-Venezuela relations constitute a firm ever-extending strategic alliance.
Amid the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s visit to Venezuela, the country's foreign office published an article, entitled "Venezuela and Russia, Strong, Strategic, Constantly Growing Alliance," on the development of bilateral relations.
The Russian foreign minister is conducting a Latin American tour from April 17-21. On Monday, he arrived in Brazil and, after Venezuela, he is also scheduled to visit Nicaragua and Cuba.