Secretary of State Marco Rubio received Venezuela's foreign minister, Oliver Blanco, in Washington on Monday in the first meeting between the two countries' top diplomats since the US military attack on the South American country on January 3.

The meeting took place two weeks after Venezuelan authorities and the opposition agreed on a blueprint to reform the country's electoral process that would allow free and fair elections at some point in 2027, and the Trump administration has stepped up pressure on the interim government and opposition groups to move quickly on election preparations.