Venezuela and the United States have decided to resume full diplomatic relations with their ambassadors returning to the respective capitals on Thursday, the Venezuelan foreign ministry said in a statement.

Earlier Thursday, the US State Department confirmed that the two countries will resume their full diplomatic representation "very soon."

With Ambassador Patrick D. Duddy's return to Caracas, "full diplomatic representative will resume," US State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters in Washington, adding that the ambassador is expected to arrive in Venezuela "very soon."

The US-Venezuela relations have been tense in recent years. In September 2008, President Hugo Chavez ordered the expulsion of the US ambassador, in solidarity with the Bolivian government's decision to expel the US ambassador in La Paz.

In retaliation, the Bush administration ordered the expulsion of the Venezuelan ambassador in Washington.

(Xinhua News Agency June 26, 2009)