Venezuela is grateful to Russia for providing the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, which secures the country's population's health, according to Venezuelan Foreign Minister Felix Plasencia, who said at a joint press conference with his Russian colleague Sergey Lavrov on Monday.

"I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the Russian government and President Vladimir Putin for their support amid the pandemic and for Russian vaccines with which the Venezuelan people are vaccinated. We are very grateful that we have an opportunity to get our population vaccinated with Russian vaccines which guarantee the preservation of the health of our citizens."

Venezuela's foreign minister hailed his country's relations with Russia as "extremely good," noting that his country "is an energy nation with enormous energy resources, hydropower, fertile plains, and young specialists."

"Our relations have great potential. Venezuela is the best ally, the best Russian partner in Latin America and the Caribbean. We can advance in a number of directions, including tourism where we have great potential as well as in the field of agriculture, pharmacology and the exchange of specialists," he stressed.

Plasencia thanked Lavrov for accepting an invitation to visit Venezuela "in the near future" before ending.