Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Wednesday said he was ready for talks with the country’s Opposition and was open to the possibility of other countries mediating to end the political crisis that has paralysed the nation over the past week, Russian news wesbite Sputnik Interntional reported.

Venezuela plunged into political turmoil last week after the United States endorsed Juan Guaidó as president. Guaidó is the leader of the Opposition-led National Assembly, a body Maduro does not recognise. Russia, meanwhile, has continued to back Maduro.

On January 23, Maduro cut diplomatic ties with the US and gave American diplomatic personnel 72 hours to leave the country. However, he later reversed the order.

“I am ready to sit at the negotiation table with the Opposition for us to talk for the benefit of Venezuela, for the sake of peace and its future,” said Maduro, adding that several governments and organisations around the world have demonstrated their “sincere concern” about the deteriorating political situation in the country and have called for a dialogue.

“The governments of Mexico, Uruguay, Bolivia, Russia, the Vatican, some European governments support [call for] a dialogue,” Maduro told Sputnik International. “I sent official letters so that they maintain a dialogue in Venezuela – where they want, when they want and in the form in which they want.”

Pope Francis on Tuesday refused to support either Maduro or Guaidó, The Guardian reported. “In this moment, I support all the Venezuelan people because they are a people who are suffering,” the pope said. “I suffer for what is happening in Venezuela. What is it that scares me? Bloodshed.”

On January 26, several European countries, including Spain, Germany, France and the United Kingdom, said they would recognise Guaidó as president if elections were not called within eight days.

Maduro, however, rejected the ultimatum and asked for it to be withdrawn. The presidential elections 10 months ago were held according to all constitutional and legal norms, the president claimed. The call for fresh presidential elections is “an absurd trick by some countries obsessed with [US President] Donald Trump’s policies”, he added.

Maduro, however, said he was open to the idea of holding early parliamentary elections. “That would be a good form of political discussion and a good decision with a popular vote,” he added. “I would support it if it was done earlier, and if we held earlier elections to the National Assembly.”

Court bars Guaidó from leaving Venezuela

Meanwhile, Venezuela’s Supreme Court on Tuesday barred Guaidó from leaving the country after Attorney General Tarek William Saab directed it to take “precautionary measures” against the self-proclaimed president, BBC reported. The move came after the US said it had given control of Venezuela’s US bank accounts to the Opposition leader.

Supreme Court head Maikel Moreno said Guaidó “is prohibited from leaving the country” until a preliminary investigation is complete after he “caused harm to peace in the republic”.

The Opposition leader described the prohibition as “nothing new”. “I’m not dismissing the threats, the persecution at this time, but we’re here, we’re continuing to do our jobs,” he said.

US National Security Adviser John Bolton warned of “serious consequences for those who attempt to subvert democracy and harm Guaidó”, describing Saab as the “illegitimate former Venezuelan Attorney General”.