France is calling on Western powers to continue negotiations that would allow Venezuela and Iran to return to the oil market in an attempt to combat the energy crisis and rising prices due to the war in Ukraine. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro responded in a televised address from Caracas Monday.

President Nicolás Maduro: “I would tell President Macron: Venezuela is ready to receive all the French companies that want to come to produce gas and petrol for the European market, for the global market. You are welcome to come whenever. The road is paved. We are prepared, ready and happy to do it.”

This comes as senior U.S. government officials recently secretly traveled to Caracas in the latest attempt to reestablish ties with the Venezuelan government and release U.S. citizens detained in Venezuela.