Zelenskyy responds to US capture of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday reflected on the US capture of former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, telling reporters that Washington “knows what to do next.”

Zelenskyy was speaking to journalists in Kiev after meeting with national security advisers of member states of the Coalition of Volunteers and was being asked questions about the dramatic early morning US military operation in Caracas.

“On Venezuela? How should we react to that?” Zelenskyy asked in Ukrainian. “I can say that if you can do this against dictators, then the United States knows what to do next,” he said with a smile.

U.S. forces removed Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, from their compound, boarded the USS Iwo Jima, and flew them to New York to face federal charges.

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The Russian Foreign Ministry condemned the capture of Maduro and his wife and called on the Trump administration to release the “legitimately elected president of a sovereign country and his wife.”

The superseding indictment, released Saturday by Attorney General Pam Bondi, accuses Maduro of leading a narco-terrorism conspiracy linked to large-scale cocaine smuggling into the United States, as well as drug importation and weapons crimes.

Flores is also accused in the same indictment of participating in a decades-long cocaine trafficking conspiracy and related firearms crimes.

The charges are based on previous indictments from 2020.

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Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro gestures alongside his wife Cilia Flores as they leave the Capitolio, home of the National Assembly, after being sworn in during the presidential inauguration in Caracas on January 10, 2025. (Juan Barreto/AFP via Getty Images)

The mission, called “Operation Absolute Resolve,” involved more than 150 aircraft and involved a coordinated effort by the U.S. military, intelligence agencies and law enforcement to capture the duo, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine said.

“This operation is a testament to our commitment and unwavering commitment to justice and our determination to hold accountable those who threaten peace and stability,” he said at a news conference at Mar-a-Lago with President Donald Trump and other Cabinet officials. he said.

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Trump told reporters that he never spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin about Maduro.

“Putin doesn’t excite me. He kills too many people,” the president said when asked if he was angry with the Russian leader.

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 continues to hit Kiev with large-scale drone and missile strikes as the Trump administration tries to secure a possible peace deal that would end nearly four years of war.

“Russia has not shown any real willingness to pursue peace. Instead, it continues its aggressive war, violence and destabilization, using negotiations as a tactic to buy time,” Zelenskyy said during a meeting of the Coalition of Volunteers, according to a statement from his office. he said. “He uses provocations and manipulations to derail progress in the peace process.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.