Venezuela blames U.S., NATO for Ukraine conflict

FILE PHOTO: A helicopter flies over a large Venezuelan flag during a military parade to celebrate the 210th anniversary of Venezuela's independence in Caracas, Venezuela, July 5, 2021. REUTERS/Manaure Quintero/File Photo

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela, a close ally of Russia, blamed NATO and the United States for the crisis in Ukraine, where Russian troops were advancing on the capital a little more than a day into their invasion of the neighboring country.

Venezuela's foreign ministry said late on Thursday that NATO and the United States had violated the Minsk agreements, a 2014 deal aimed at ending a war in Donbas, a separatist region in eastern Ukraine.