Senior US and Venezuelan officials resumed talks on Wednesday, and Washington said it urged President Nicolas Maduro’s government to ensure successful elections scheduled for July 28. “competitive and inclusive.”

Venezuela’s chief negotiator Jorge Rodriguez said the two sides agreed during their first virtual meeting to work on improve strained relations and maintain “constructive and respectful” communication.

Maduro is seeking a second re-election, while the United States has expressed concern about whether he will deliver on his promises to hold free and fair presidential elections. Western governments have said his 2018 election was a sham.

The Venezuelan President is now facing Edmundo Gonzalez, a veteran former diplomat who was named the opposition candidate after the Supreme Court upheld a ban on the winner of January’s primary election, Maria Corina Machado, to hold public office, which was frowned upon by the United States at the time.

Since then, Machado has supported Gonzalez and achieved a major advantage over Maduro in public opinion polls.

In mid-April, the United States reimposed oil sanctions on OPEC member Venezuela, accusing Maduro of failing to fully honor electoral guarantees he made in his deals with the opposition.

Maduro said Monday he had accepted a U.S. offer to resume direct talks. The last known meeting between senior U.S. officials and Maduro’s representatives It happened in Mexico in mid-April.

“We discussed a wide range of issues and continue to call for competitive and inclusive elections on July 28 in Venezuela,” a White House National Security Council spokesman said of Wednesday’s meeting.

Rodriguez said that while the continuation of the talks was aimed at “gaining trust,” Venezuela expressed “rejection of the distortions that have been repeatedly published by representatives of the North American government regarding this dialogue.” He did not provide further details.

New round of talks “We should limit ourselves to what was agreed in Qatar” Rodriguez reported this on his X account.

Secret talks between the United States and Venezuela in Qatar late last year helped Maduro call elections this month. The details of these agreements are not fully disclosed.

The opposition has condemned what it calls Maduro’s repressive tactics, including the jailing of government critics.

While many Venezuelan voters are angry about falling living standards and a stagnant minimum wage, some analysts say the government is struggling to overcome polls showing that Gonzalez leads Maduro by about 20 points.