Russian president backs Venezuela talks with opposition groups

Last week, a group of Venezuelan opposition parties agreed to enter a dialogue with the government. But larger groups, led by opposition leader Juan Guaido, rejected the move. At the meeting between the two leaders in Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow considered any refusal to hold dialogue to be "irrational and harmful for the country and a threat to the welfare of the population." The Russian President also announced plans for Moscow to deliver 1.5 million flu vaccines in the near future to Venezuela and said Russia was meeting its obligations to service military hardware it had sold to Venezuela.