Russian Meds Arrived to Venezuela

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) for the supplies of medicines to the crisis-torn country.

I would like to express my deep gratitude to the Pan American Health Organization and President Vladimir Putin for these opportunities, for the stability of medicine supplies. They are arriving constantly, every week, - Maduro said in an address, aired by his Periscope channel.

The Venezuelan president noted that these deliveries were not pro bono.

“Who pays for that? The Venezuelan government does. We repay all our obligations,” Maduro pointed out.

The president explained that such deliveries helped develop Venezuela’s system of imports, noting that the country was living “in the conditions of the blockade and persecution from the imperialistic government of the United States in terms of finances and economy.”

The president noted that China, Cuba, India, Palestine and Turkey were also among the states that provided medicines and medical equipment to Venezuela.

On Thursday [21 February], the Venezuelan Nutrition Ministry said the government had bought 300 tonnes of medicines and medical equipment from Russia amid the political and economic crises in the Latin American country. A diplomatic source told on Wednesday that Russia had delivered medicines and medical equipment to the Caracas airport.

President Nicolas Maduro also said that Venezuela has agreed to accept humanitarian aid from the European Union.

Vice President [Delcy Rodriguez] held an important meeting with the EU contact group and accepted an offer for funding worth 2 billion euros in technical humanitarian aid via the UN system, - Maduro said.

The AVN news agency reported that Rodriguez had handed over the list of medicines and food products that the country needed to receive as part of this assistance.

Venezuela’s opposition is seeking to bring humanitarian aid collected by various countries to the country, citing an acute humanitarian crisis there. However, the authorities have been dismissing these claims and preventing the aid from crossing the border.

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