France will back Guaido in Venezuela if country doesn't announce elections

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday he was ready to recognise Juan Guaido as president of Venezuela if elections were not called in the coming week. "Unless elections are announced within eight days, we will be ready to recognise @jguaido as 'President in charge' of Venezuela in order to trigger a political process," Macron said on his Twitter feed.

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced the same position on Saturday. The United Nations Security Council will meet on Saturday at the request of the United States after Washington and a string of countries in the region recognised Venezuelan opposition leader Guaido as head of state and urged President Nicolas Maduro to step down.