Dozens of people have been killed and nearly 680,000 have fled Ukraine since Putin ordered his troops into the country last week after failing to get guarantees that NATO will not expand its military alliance eastward. Photo: AFP

In the call initiated by Caracas, the Venezuelan leader also condemned “destabilising actions of the United States and NATO” and spoke out against a Western campaign of “lies and disinformation”, it said.

Dozens of people have been killed and nearly 680,000 have fled Ukraine since Putin ordered his troops into the country last week after failing to get guarantees that NATO will not expand its military alliance eastward.

In the call with Maduro, Putin insisted the objectives of the military assault were to “protect the civilian population” of the Donbass separatist region and to get Kyiv to recognise Russian sovereignty over Crimea, which it annexed in 2014.

It also sought to ensure a “neutral and non-nuclear” Ukrainian position towards Russia, said the statement.

After the call, Maduro published a message on Twitter with a photograph of him and Putin, and said he also told the Russian leader Venezuela was “in favour of understanding and dialogue as a way to preserve peace”.

Venezuela, along with Cuba and Nicaragua – all targets of United States sanctions – are allies of Moscow.