Russia said on Friday U.S. "narco-terrorism" charges against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro were absurd, adding that sanctions on Caracas could become "a tool of genocide" amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The U.S. government on Thursday indicted Maduro and more than a dozen other top Venezuelan officials on charges of "narco-terrorism," the latest escalation of the Trump administration's pressure campaign aimed at ousting the socialist leader.

Russia, Maduro's longtime political and financial backer, considers those accusations "absurd" and "wild" at a time when countries across the world join efforts to fight coronavirus, the Interfax news agency cited Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, as saying.

"We can not stress enough our call for an immediate lifting of unilateral unlawful sanctions that are turning in the current epidemic into an instrument of genocide," Zakharova said.

Zakharova said Russia had supplied coronavirus test kits to Venezuela, which has reported 107 confirmed cases of the disease and that Moscow would continue helping Caracas to stop coronavirus spreading.

Last week, President Nicolas Maduro called for an immediate quarantine across the country. He has also demanded U.S. sanctions to be lifted and asked for an emergency loan from the International Monetary Fund in order to combat the outbreak.

The once-rich country has a very weak health infrastructure. Testing kits and other essential medical equipment are believed to be significantly short in supply, as electricity is not even guaranteed in all medical facilities. 

Venezuela has suffered years of economic downturn with no signs of catching relief. With U.S. sanctions still in place and Venezuela's perennially declining purchasing power, the South American state is struggling to procure basic goods through import, let alone much-needed medical supplies. 

Apart from Russia, China has also sent 4,000 diagnosis kits to Venezuela. The government said they would serve to test 300,000 Venezuelans.

President Donald Trump denied that the charges were an attempt to take advantage of Venezuela at a vulnerable time when it is expected to be hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

(With input from Reuters)

(Cover image: Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro gestures as he talks to the media during a news conference in Caracas, Venezuela February 15, 2018. /Reuters)