Secretary of State Marco Rubio has met with his Venezuelan counterpart in Washington. The meeting comes as the Trump administration has stepped up efforts to press the country’s interim government and opposition groups to make quick progress on preparations for elections that could be held next year. Rubio has held talks with Foreign Minister Oliver Blanco at the State Department on Monday. Two weeks ago, Venezuelan authorities and opposition figures agreed on a blueprint to reform the country’s electoral process to allow for free and fair elections to take place at some point in 2027. It's one of the highest-level encounters between a senior Trump administration official and a counterpart from acting President Delcy Rodríguez’s government.