As it did with Assad regime last year, US walks out of UN forum as Venezuela takes chair

The United States walked out of the Conference on Disarmament on Tuesday (May 28) to protest Venezuela assuming the rotating presidency of the UN-sponsored forum - as it did a year ago when Syria took the chair.

"We have to try to do what we can to prevent these types of states from presiding over international bodies," Robert Wood, US disarmament ambassador, told reporters after leaving the session in Geneva.

The United States and many European and Latin American countries have recognized Guaido as Venezuela's rightful leader. But Maduro retains control of state functions and the support of the military's top brass, as well as allies such as Russia, Turkey, Cuba and China.

"A representative of Juan Guaido, the interim president, should be in this body, should be sitting in that chair right now", Wood said. "The former (Nicolas) Maduro regime is in essence dead, it just doesn't want to lay down", he added.

Maduro calls Guaido a puppet of Washington and blames US sanctions for a hyperinflationary economic meltdown and humanitarian crisis.

Russia and Assad regime expressed their support for Venezuela and Moscow's representative Andrey Belousov accused the US of "introducing political turbulence into the work of the Conference of Disarmament".