<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Russian President Vladimir Putin today congratulated his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro on his re-election. The Kremlin said in a statement in Moscow today that the Russian president wished Maduro good health and success in resolving the social and economic issues facing the country.</span></div>''<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"></div>''<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Maduro won 68 per cent of the vote in <span class="aQJ" data-term="goog_49503309" tabindex="0" style="border-bottom: 1px dashed #cccccc; position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">Sunday's</span> election, far ahead of his nearest rival. The main opposition boycotted the vote and charged it was rigged.</div>''<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"></div>''<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Meanwhile, the US has threatened new sanctions against the Venezuelan regime today, following an opposition-boycotted election that Washington denounced as a "sham" and "illegitimate." </div>''<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">  </div>''<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Even before the election took place, US, Canada, the European Union and a dozen Latin American countries has said they would not recognize the results.</div>''<div><br />''</div>