MOSCOW. April 1 (Interfax) - Russia has already explained to the United States that Russian military specialists in Venezuela are conducting maintenance of military hardware earlier supplied to this country, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Sunday.
"The Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation has already commented on this issue. We have responded to the phone call I got from U.S. Secretary of State [Mike] Pompeo by an almost similar, but more polite call," Lavrov said during the Rossiya 1 (VGTRK) TV channel's "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin" program, when commenting on U.S. President Donald Trump's statement that Russia should "get out" of Venezuela.
"We have explained what our military specialists are doing in Venezuela - that they are working there on an absolutely legitimate basis and are conducting maintenance of the hardware we earlier supplied under an intergovernmental agreement, which was ratified by the Venezuelan parliament and absolutely complies with the Constitution of Venezuela," he said.