Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Monday appointed the country’s Ambassador to Russia, Carlos Faría, as chancellor.

“I have appointed Comrade Carlos Faría as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chancellor of the Republic,” said Maduro. “He has been coming for over five years as ambassador to the Russian Federation.”

“He knows very well the entire geopolitical environment of a multipolar world struggle,” said the socialist president, a close ally of Vladimir Putin’s government.

Maduro voiced his support for Putin amid international criticism of Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine.