Moscow (CNN) Russia acknowledged Thursday that it has military personnel in Venezuela, which is facing political turmoil and a humanitarian crisis, saying the deployment is legal and does not alter the delicate balance of power in the region.

In a briefing Thursday in Moscow, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said "Russian specialists" were on Venezuelan soil but declared their deployment to be "in accordance with the provisions of the bilateral intergovernmental agreement on military-technical cooperation" between Moscow and Caracas.

Asked at the briefing by CNN how long they would be deployed, she replied that the personnel would remain in Venezuela "for as long as needed, and as long as the government of Venezuela needs them."

Moscow has continued to back embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, while Washington and more than 50 other countries recognize Juan Guaido, the president of the country's National Assembly, as the Venezuela's interim president.

Zakharova provided few specifics about the activity of the personnel but said their presence "doesn't violate international law, doesn't change the balance of forces in the region."

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