EU is calling for the country to hold fresh elections while the US has already recognised Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country's interim president.

A senior Russian diplomat said Venezuela hasn't asked Russia for military assistance amid the South American country's political crisis.

Alexander Shchetinin, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Latin America department, said that Moscow hasn't received any such request from Caracas, according to Russian news reports.

Asked to compare the situation in Venezuela to Syria, where Russia has waged a military campaign to shore up Bashar al Assad's regime, Shchetinin said "there is a big difference" between Syria and Venezuela but wouldn't elaborate.

An active-duty Venezuelan army colonel who is a military doctor has dropped his allegiance to President Nicolas Maduro, backing opposition leader Juan Guaido instead.

Colonel Ruben Paz Jimenez urged his fellow soldiers to help allow humanitarian aid into Venezuela. The shipment of US aid is currently in Cucuta, Colombia, on the border.

Maduro has vowed to prevent the aid from entering, labelling it a precursor of a US invasion.

A week ago, Air Force General Francisco Yanez also dropped his allegiance to Maduro. 

TRT World