Venezuela Shoring Up Ties with Sanctioned Allies

Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov is due in Venezuela this week as part of a Latin America tour with energy likely on the agenda.

• Lavrov's trip to Caracas comes amid preparations for Maduro's visit to Russia, which was initially scheduled for late 2023.
• Starting on Feb. 21, Lavrov will make a two-day visit to Brazil, where he will participate in a meeting of foreign ministers of the Group of Twenty (G20) in Rio de Janeiro.
• Iranian Oil Minister Javad Owji visited Venezuela at the end of January as the Maduro regime seemingly slides away from the Barbados agreement backed by Washington and towards its sanctioned allies.
• The talks between Iran and Venezuela covered technical and engineering services, refining operations, an overhaul of refineries in the Latin American country, creation of a market for Iran’s private sector particularly in the petrochemical sector, and investment in oil and energy industries.
• Venezuela’s seeming lack of commitment to the Barbados agreement will likely begin to push its oil flows back towards Chinese independent refiners from mid-April when the agreement is set to lapse. The sanctions reprieve has seen flows head to the US and India in recent months.
• Both Russia and Iran appear intent on helping Venezuela to boost its oil production, refining and overall energy infrastructure.