Tasnim - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has criticized the decision of the US authorities to impose sanctions on PDVSA (Petroleos de Venezuela) oil and gas company.

"These are illegal, immoral, criminal acts," Maduro said at a meeting with Venezuelan diplomats returning from the United States.

Earlier on Monday the US Treasury announced imposing sanctions on PDVSA and blocking $7 billion in assets, TASS news agency reported.

On January 23 Venezuelan National Assembly Speaker Juan Guaido proclaimed himself as the country's acting president. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has described it as a coup attempt and announced severing diplomatic relations with the United States. Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez said that the armed forces do not recognize Guaido as interim president.

Guaido was recognized as interim president by the Lima Group countries (except for Mexico), as well as by Albania, Georgia, the United States, and the Organization of American States.

Several EU countries came forward with support for the Venezuelan parliament and expressed hope for new elections to resolve the crisis. Maduro was supported by Russia, Bolivia, Iran, Cuba, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Turkey. Belarus and China called for resolving all issues by peaceful means and spoke against any interference from the outside. The UN secretary general called for dialogue to resolve the crisis.