Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said he has instructed the armed forces to take "defensive actions" in response to the deployment of a British warship off the coast of Guyana, EFE reports.

Maduro said that the deployment of the British vessel near Guyana is "practically a military threat from London." Against this background, he ordered the "intensification of joint defense actions of the national armed forces" off the Essequibo coast.

"I have ordered the intensification of joint actions of all the armed forces of Venezuela in the eastern Caribbean, on the Atlantic facade, joint actions of a defensive nature in response to the provocation and threat of the United Kingdom," he said.

Maduro believes that Venezuela is committed to the agreement reached with Guyana to resolve the territorial dispute, "but cannot remain idle in the face of a threat, wherever it comes from, and will respond proportionately."

"Venezuela has the right to defense, to calm and peace. We do not accept provocations and threats from anyone and anything. Venezuela responds to threats and provocations with firmness and patriotism," Maduro emphasized.