Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores in Moscow on May 9, 2025, at the Victory Day parade, commemorating the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi forces by the Red Army. Photograph: Presidential Press.
Guacamaya, May 9, 2025. Nicolás Maduro is in Moscow, Russia, for the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany. Having met with the heads of state of several countries, he has already secured meetings with several of them, including both official and informal encounters.
Maduro has already met with five heads of state: Vladimir Putin, Kassym-Jomar Tokayev, Ibrahim Traoré, Miguel Díaz-Canel, and Xi Jinping; according to the Venezuelan presidential press office. Curiously, he has also met with Ramzan Kadyrov, Head of the Republic of Chechnya, and the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, Vladimir Mikhailovich Gundyaev.
The Venezuelan president was accompanied, among others, by Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino, Foreign Minister Yván Gil, and Communications Minister Freddy Ñáñez, as well as First Lady Cilia Flores and PDVSA President Héctor Obregón.
Vladimir Putin, President of Russia
Maduro’s first visit to Moscow was an official meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, along with ministers from both governments. They signed a new “strategic partnership agreement.”
The agreements include joint investments in oil, gas, and mining, as well as military cooperation and technological exchange. An increase in the frequency of air connections between Moscow and Caracas is also planned.
Defense Minister Padrino appeared next to the president in the photographs of the meeting with Putin, highlighting the importance of his presence.
Kassym-Jomar Tokayev, President of Kazakhstan
The presidents and other high-level officials of Kazakhstan and Venezuela met on May 8 for a bilateral meeting. Maduro expressed interest in collaborating with state-owned companies such as Kazmunaygas (KMG).
Miguel Díaz-Canel, President of Cuba
Maduro and Díaz-Canel met twice. First, the two paid tribute in front of the monument dedicated to Simón Bolívar in Moscow, and then sat down for an official government-to-government meeting.
Cuba and Venezuela have been close allies virtually since Hugo Chávez’s rise to power in 1999. Their mutual cooperation agreements have covered areas from the military to energy to healthcare.
Ibrahim Traoré, President of Burkina Faso
Captain Ibrahim Traoré has been Burkina Faso’s interim president since he staged a coup in 2022. Traoré has sought to position himself as a leader of pan-Africanism and anti-imperialism, particularly criticizing the governments of France and the United States.
The presidential press office stated that at the meeting, “22 agreements were signed covering various strategic areas, including energy, mining, and education.”
Xi Jinping, President of China
Maduro dined with Xi Jinping, head of state and general secretary of the Communist Party of China, on May 8. The press office highlighted the level of relations between the two countries, describing them as “a friendship that endures all trials and all times.”
This time, no working meeting between the two has been announced, although last month Executive Vice President Delcy Rodríguez met with the Chinese ambassador in Caracas, and later visited Beijing and Shanghai, where she spoke with her counterpart, Han Zheng, and executives from the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC).
Ramzan Kadyrov, Head of the Republic of Chechnya
The Republic of Chechnya is one of 22, which are part of the 85 territories that make up the Russian Federation. Its head of government, Ramzan Kadyrov, has become internationally known for his personal involvement in the Russian war effort against Ukraine.
His father, Akhmat Kadyrov, had been a leader of the Chechen independence movement, although he later became head of the republic after an agreement with Putin. He was assassinated in 2004, and in 2007 his son assumed the same position. Ramzan Kadyrov is also a colonel general in the Russian army today.
