Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attends a news conference following the talks with his Austrian counterpart Karin Kneissl in Moscow, Russia March 12, 2019. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is holding talks with Venezuela’s foreign minister in Vienna, Russia’s RIA news agency reported on Thursday.

Venezuela, a close ally of Moscow, is in political turmoil and the United States and many other Western countries are backing opponents of President Nicolas Maduro.