Venus is situated much closer to Earth than Mars.
Yes, but it is NOT in the ring of life.. Venus is too close to the sun, its surface temperatures because of it, do not allow liquid water, which is believed to be required for life to exist.
Its not about how close Venus is to Earth, but how close Venus is to the Sun.. only Mars and Earth in terms of planets in our solar system are believed to have had the capacity to support life. The only other possibility is the moon Europa, assuming it has liquid water underneath its frozen surface warmed by geothermic activity.