The European Union's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini will represent the International Contact Group for Venezuela at a meeting in New York with Canada, Chile and Peru's foreign ministers early next week, the EU said on Wednesday in a statement.
The foreign ministers of Portugal and Uruguay will also represent the EU-led Venezuela Contact Group at the meeting in New York on Monday, said the statement issued by the European External Action Service.
The New York meeting comes amid ongoing diplomatic efforts to end the deep political and economic crisis in the South American country under socialist president Nicolas Maduro, who came to power in 2013 and was re-elected last year in contested polls.
The foreign ministers of Canada, Chile and Peru are representing the 14-member Lima Group, which demands the release of political prisoners, calls for free elections, offers humanitarian aid and is critical of the social unrest in Venezuela.
Monday's meeting with the Lima Group representatives "is part of the decision taken by the International Contact Group to intensify its outreach with other key international actors, with a view to contribute to a political, peaceful and democratic solution to the Venezuelan crisis," said the statement.
Italy is a member of the International Contact Group, which was set up in January as part of a diplomatic push to end the crisis in Venezuela. The group also includes France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands and Britain as well as four Latin American countries - Ecuador, Costa Rica, Uruguay and Bolivia.
