CARACAS - Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro has proposed bringing forward next year's election for the opposition-controlled National Assembly.

National Assembly President Juan Guaidó dismissed the proposal as "a farce".

The two men have been at loggerheads since January when Mr Guaidó declared himself interim president, arguing Mr Maduro's re-election was fraudulent.

Talks between the two sides via international mediators are underway in the Norwegian capital, Oslo.

President Maduro made the proposal while he was addressing a crowd of supporters on the anniversary of his re-election in 2018.

"Let's hold elections [for the National Assembly]. Let's [have] a peaceful solution, electoral, democratic, constitutional.

"We are going to measure ourselves electorally, we are going to bring forward elections to the National Assembly," he said without giving a date.

Mr Maduro has in the past suggested bringing forward the National Assembly elections but then not acted on it.

Large crowds wearing red T-shirts bearing the governing party's PSUV logo cheered and waved banners.

Members of the opposition were quick to mock the suggestion. Carlos Vecchio, who is Mr Guaidó's representative in the US, tweeted: "@nicolasmaduro you are the problem, not the National Assembly."

Mr Guaidó also expressed his opposition to the proposal on Twitter.

Referring to the opposition's boycott of the presidential election in 2018 which Mr Maduro went on to win, he wrote: "On 20 May 2018 we showed that we don't take part in a farce.

"A new farce would only worsen the crisis we're in. Only by putting an end to the usurpation and with a clear referee will there be free elections," he added, reiterating the opposition's demand for President Maduro to step down and for presidential elections to be held.