Military personnel guard the perimeter of the Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas, Venezuela, 3 January 2026. Photo: EPA / MIGUEL GUTIERREZ
Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday sharply condemned the US military incursion into Venezuela, and called for an emergency UN Security Council meeting, describing the capture of the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro, as an “act of armed aggression”.
Calling the rendition of Maduro and his wife to the United States “an unacceptable violation of the sovereignty of an independent state, the respect for which is a fundamental principle of international law,” the Russian Foreign Ministry expressed its solidarity with Maduro’s government, with which it has close ties.
The Foreign Ministry added that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Belarusian counterpart Maxim Ryzhenkov had discussed the situation on Saturday, adding that both Moscow and Minsk “resolutely condemn” Trump’s move.
Maduro’s capture was confirmed after a US military operation in Caracas in the early hours of Saturday. Having been transferred to New York, both he and his wife, Cilia Flores, face multiple charges in the US, including narco-terrorism and conspiracy to import cocaine.
“We will run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” Trump told the press during a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Saturday, adding that the US couldn’t allow those without “the interests of Venezuelans in mind” to take over the country.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also reacted to the news of Maduro’s capture by US special forces on Saturday. “What can I say? If this is how dictators can be dealt with, then the United States knows what to do next," Zelensky said, in an obvious reference to Putin, RBC-Ukraine reported.
