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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky criticized the US capture of former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro on Saturday, telling reporters that Washington “knows what to do next.”
Zelensky was speaking to journalists in Kiev after a meeting with national security advisers from member states of the Coalition of the Willing when asked about the surprise early-morning US military operation in Caracas.
“Regarding Venezuela? How should we respond to this?” Zelensky asked in Ukrainian. He smiled and said, “Well, what can I say, if you can do it with dictators, the United States knows what to do next.”
U.S. forces took Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores from their compound, where they were boarded aboard the USS Iwo Jima and flown to New York to face federal charges.
Trump calls ousting Maduro from power as ‘smart’ move as Russia, China have entered the fray
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a briefing in Kiev, Ukraine, on Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (Danilo Antoniuk/AP)
Russia’s Foreign Ministry condemned the capture of Maduro and his wife and urged the Trump administration to release “the legitimately elected president of a sovereign country and his spouse.”
In a superseding indictment issued Saturday by Attorney General Pam Bondi, Maduro is accused of leading a narco-terrorism conspiracy involving large-scale cocaine trafficking into the United States, along with related drug importation and weapons crimes.
The same indictment also accuses Flores of participating in a decades-long cocaine trafficking conspiracy and related firearms crimes.
The charges are based on prior indictments from 2020.
NYC Mayor calls Trump’s capture of Venezuelan leader Maduro an ‘act of war’ and strongly condemns it.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro gestures next to his wife Cilia Flores after his presidential inauguration in Caracas on January 10, 2025. (Juan Barreto/AFP via Getty Images)
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Dan Cain said the mission, called “Operation Absolute Resolve,” involved more than 150 aircraft and a coordinated effort by the U.S. military, intelligence agencies and law enforcement to capture the two.
“This operation is a testament to our 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 with President Donald Trump and Cabinet officials.
Maduro’s fall has raised suspicions of betrayal within Venezuela’s ruling elite.
Trump told reporters that he never spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin about Maduro.
When the president was asked if he was angry with the Russian leader, he said, “I’m not thrilled with Putin. He’s killing a lot of people.”
President Donald Trump speaks at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, on Saturday, January 3, 2026. (Alex Brandon/AP)
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Moscow has continued massive drone and missile attacks on Kiev as the Trump administration works to secure a potential peace deal to end the nearly four-year war.
According to a statement from his office, Zelensky said during the Coalition of the Willing meeting, “Russia has not shown a genuine willingness to pursue peace. Instead, it continues aggressive war, violence and destabilization, using negotiations as a tactic to buy time.” “It uses provocation and manipulation to derail progress in the peace process,”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
