France warned Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro that a deadline to organise elections ran out Sunday night and that Paris was preparing to recognise his opponent, Juan Guaido.
France, Germany and Spain have given Maduro until midnight on Sunday to call a presidential election.
The Venezuelan leader has ignored those demands but has reiterated his call to bring forward legislative elections slated for the end of 2020 to this year.
"The ultimatum ends tonight," France's European Affairs Minister Nathalie Loiseau told French media on Sunday.
"If between now and this evening Mr Maduro does not commit to organising presidential elections, we will consider that Mr Guaido is legitimate to organise them in his place," Loiseau added
"And we will consider him as interim president until the elections," she continued.
Loiseau added that Maduro's suggestion of bringing forward parliamentary elections was "a farce, a tragic farce".
This comes as the European Union says that a newly formed "International Contact Group" of European and Latin American countries will hold its first meeting in Uruguay on Thursday to address the Venezuela crisis.
Trump says sending military ‘an option’
A joint statement from EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez on Sunday said that the meeting in Montevideo will be held at ministerial level.
The contact group includes the EU and eight of its member countries -- France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Britain -- as well as Latin American nations Bolivia, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Uruguay.
Its stated aim is "contributing to create conditions for a political and peaceful process to emerge, enabling Venezuelans to determine their own future" through free and credible elections.
For his part, US President Donald Trump has said that sending the military to Venezuela was "an option" and that he had turned down Maduro's request for a meeting.
"Certainly, it's something that's on the - it's an option," Trump said in an interview with CBS to be broadcast on Sunday.
AFP
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