Venezuela's leader pledges military cooperation with Russia

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro pledged a "powerful military cooperation" with Russia following high-level discussions between officials Wednesday.

The meeting came a day after diplomats from the U.S. and several other nations gathered to discuss steps toward a negotiated solution to the South American country's protracted crisis. The remarks came about a month after Maduro and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone about cooperation between their countries amid talk of possible Russian troop deployment to Venezuela.  Flanked by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov and Venezuelan Petroleum Minister Tareck El Aissami, Maduro said economic, commercial and tourism matters were also discussed Wednesday.