Putin, Maduro discuss joint projects, global oil markets

Russian President Vladimir Putin and visiting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Thursday discussed bilateral cooperation and the world energy market situation, according to a statement posted on the Russian presidential website.

The presidents "held a detailed discussion" of the progress in implementing joint projects and the situation on the global crude oil market, Interfax news agency quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying.

The two leaders called for "intensification of the joint projects in various areas, including energy," the spokesman said, without giving more details of the meeting.

They urged the joint intergovernmental commission to step up its work, and "reaffirmed their willingness to make vigorous steps to make up for the drop in bilateral trade that occurred last year, " according to Interfax.

Before their closed-door talks, Putin said that "Venezuela is not only a good friend, but also a very close partner, one of our leading partners in Latin America."

Maduro, for his part, reiterated his country's solidarity with Russia and deep faith in Russian people's ability to handle the current situation. "Venezuela will always be with Russia," he said.

Maduro's visit came a time when the two countries, both oil- dependent economies, were hit hard by a free fall in global oil prices.

Global oil prices plunge, combined with Western sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine crisis, has led to a sharp depreciation of the ruble and forced the government to reduce spending.

Before his visit to Moscow, Maduro has visited several large oil exporters including Iran, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Algeria to lobby for united responses to prop up the oil prices.

As an OPEC member, Venezuela relies on oil exports for almost 95 percent of its foreign currency earnings. Endite