Russia says Venezuela crisis must be resolved peacefully

File photo: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov speaks during a news conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Nicosia, Cyprus May 18, 2017. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday stressed the need to resolve the crisis in Venezuela peacefully and without external intervention. "We are united in the need to rapidly overcome the disagreements that exist in that country exclusively in a peaceful manner, through national dialogue without any kind of pressure from the outside, without speaking of the unacceptable threats of military interference in the country's internal affairs," Lavrov said following talks with Bolivian counterpart Fernando Huanacuni Mamani. Lavrov's comments came after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened a possible armed intervention in the South American country, prompting Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro to call for military exercises. (Reporting by Maria Kiselyova; Writing by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber)