Zelenskyy commented on Saturday regarding the U.S. apprehension of former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, telling reporters that Washington “knows what to do next.”
Zelenskyy was addressing reporters in Kyiv after meeting with national security advisors from member states of the Coalition of the Willing when he was asked about the striking U.S. military operation that unfolded in Caracas in the early morning hours.
“Regarding Venezuela? How should we respond to this?” Zelenskyy asked in Ukrainian. “Well, what I can say is—if you can take such action against dictators, then the United States knows what comes next,” he said with a smile.
U.S. forces took Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, from their compound, where they were boarded onto the USS Iwo Jima and flown to to face federal charges.
Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced the capture of Maduro and his wife, urging the Trump administration to release the “legitimately elected president of a sovereign country and his spouse.”
In a superseding indictment released Saturday by Attorney General , Maduro is charged with leading a narco-terrorism conspiracy tied to large-scale into the United States, along with related drug importation and weapons offenses.
Flores is also charged in the same indictment with participating in a decades-long cocaine trafficking conspiracy and related firearms offenses.
The charges build on prior indictments from 2020.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Dan Caine said the mission, dubbed “Operation Absolute Resolve,” involved and a coordinated effort by the U.S. military, intelligence agencies and law enforcement to apprehend the duo.
“This operation is a testament to the dedication and unwavering commitment to justice and our resolve to hold accountable those who threaten peace and stability,” he said at a Mar-a-Lago press conference alongside President and Cabinet officials.
Trump told reporters he never spoke with about Maduro.
“I’m not thrilled with Putin. He’s killing too many people,” the president said when asked whether he was upset at the Russian leader.
Moscow has continued with large-scale drone and missile attacks as the Trump administration works to secure a potential peace agreement to end the nearly four-year war.
“Russia has not shown a genuine willingness to pursue peace. Instead, it continues its aggressive war, violence and destabilization, using negotiations as a tactic to buy time,” Zelenskyy said during the Coalition of the Willing meeting, according to a statement from his office. “It employs provocations and manipulations to derail progress in the peace process,”