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Ecuadorean politician Ricardo Patiño announced Thursday that Ecuador will host a high-level meeting between Colombian Foreign Minister Maria Angel Holguin and Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez.
Patiño, who is on a temporary leave from his duties as foreign minister, said the presidents of Colombia and Venezuela had accepted a proposal for the foreign ministers of both countries to meet in the Ecuadorean capital of Quito.
He added that the dialogue is set to begin on Saturday and praised the governments for accepting the offer.
Earlier this month, Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa offered to arrange a meeting between Santos and Maduro in order to help resolve the ongoing dispute between the two South American countries over Venezuela's decision to close parts of its border with Colombia.
Patiño said a meeting between the presidents had not been set.
“We are worried about the situation (between) Colombia (and) Venezuela...we want to offer our good will to solve any issue through dialogue between our brothers, our sister nations,” said President Correa earlier this month.
Tensions between the two countries sparked when Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro ordered the border with Colombia closed after paramilitaries attacked Venezuelan soldiers who were patrolling the border.
Approximately 1,400 Colombians living in Venezuela without documents were repatriated to their homeland as part of a broader effort by the Venezuelan government to address the threat of paramilitary activity in Venezuela.
Officials from both countries have since traded blame over the problems at the border. Venezuelan President Maduro has accused his Colombian counterpart of not doing enough to address paramilitary activity in Colombia, which has crept over into Venezuela.
Ahead of Rodriguez' announcement, Santos spoke to the press Wednesday, accusing Venezuela of “blaming Colombia for its problems.”
“If you close the border, its a sovereign act, if you deport people without documents, that’s a sovereign act, but you can’t violate human rights,” Santos said referring to the recent deportations and reports that families may have been separated through this act.
Venezuelan officials have been quick to point out that more than 5 million Colombians currently live in Venezuela, including some 176,000 official refugees, after fleeing violence, austerity measures and lack of opportunities in Colombia.
Despite Santos' remarks, both foreign ministers have since met with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on separate occasions, in efforts to mend diplomatic relations. The upcoming dialogue between the two leaders could be a step in a positive direction for the neighboring countries.
Ecuador is currently the president pro-tempore of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, known as Celac, which, in addition to the countries of Unasur, includes countries from Central America and the Caribbean.
Quito is home to the headquarters of the Union of South American Nations, known as Unasur, which works to promote peace and regional integration of South American countries.
The offer to host a bilateral meeting was made by Ecuador and Uruguay, who holds the pro-tempore presidency of Unasur.
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