The Russian president and his Brazilian counterpart reiterated that Venezuela's sovereignty must be protected

Russian President Vladimir Putin has held a phone call with his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, in which they discussed the situation in Venezuela, where President Nicolas Maduro was abducted by US forces earlier this month, the Kremlin has said.

According to a statement on Wednesday, Putin and Lula emphasized that "Russia and Brazil shared fundamental stances as to ensuring the sovereignty and national interests" of Venezuela following the US aggression against the oil-rich nation.

The two presidents "agreed to continue coordinating their efforts, including within the UN, as well as through BRICS, with the aim of de-escalating tensions in Latin America." Russia and Brazil are both among the founding members of the economic group.

Putin and Lula also discussed deepening bilateral relations ahead of the Russian-Brazilian High-Level Commission on Cooperation, scheduled to convene in February, the Kremlin said.

On January 3, American commandos carried out a series of airstrikes on the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, and several other regions of the country, while abducting Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores. They were taken to a US warship and later flown to New York, where last week they appeared in court on drug-trafficking conspiracy charges. Both pleaded not guilty.

Commenting on the US raid, Lula wrote on X that Washington's actions had crossed an "unacceptable line." He warned that the US military operation had set an "extremely dangerous precedent for the entire international community."

The abduction of Maduro is a throwback to the "worst moments of interference in the politics of Latin America and the Caribbean and threatens the preservation of the region as a zone of peace," he added.

Russia also reaffirmed its solidarity with Venezuela "in the face of blatant neo-colonial threats and external armed aggression," and called for Maduro's immediate release from US custody.

Addressing an emergency session of the UN Security Council in early January, Russian Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia described Washington's actions in Venezuela as "international banditry" driven by a desire to gain "unlimited control over natural resources."

Speaking on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov denounced the US attack on Venezuela as a "flagrant violation of international law."