Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke out on Saturday about the US arrest of former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, telling reporters that Washington “knows what to do now.”
Zelenskyy was speaking to reporters in Kiev after meeting with national security advisers from member states of the Coalition of the Willing, when asked about the stunning US military operation that unfolded in Caracas in the early morning hours.
“As for Venezuela? How should we respond to this?” Zelenskyy asked in Ukrainian. “Well, what I can say is, if you can do that with dictators, then the United States knows what to do next,” he said with a smile.
U.S. forces took Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, from their compound, where they were taken aboard the USS Iwo Jima and flown to New York to face federal charges.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during a briefing in Kiev, Ukraine, Saturday, January 3, 2026. (Danylo Antoniuk/AP)
Russia’s Foreign Ministry denounced the capture of Maduro and his wife and urged the Trump administration to release the “legitimately elected president of a sovereign country and his wife.”
In a superseding indictment unsealed Saturday by Attorney General Pam Bondi, Maduro is accused of leading a narco-terrorist conspiracy linked to large-scale cocaine trafficking into the United States, along with related drug importation and weapons offenses.
Flores is also accused in the same indictment of participating in a decades-long cocaine trafficking conspiracy and related gun crimes.
The charges build on previous charges from 2020.
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Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro gestures next to his wife Cilia Flores after the presidential inauguration in Caracas on January 10, 2025. (Juan Barreto/AFP via Getty Images)
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Dan Caine said the mission, dubbed “Operation Absolute Resolve,” involved more than 150 aircraft and a coordinated effort among the U.S. military, intelligence agencies and law enforcement to capture the duo.
“This operation is a testament to the commitment and unwavering commitment to justice and our resolve to hold accountable those who threaten peace and stability,” he said at a news conference at Mar-a-Lago alongside President Donald Trump and Cabinet officials.
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Trump told reporters that he had never spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin about Maduro.
“I’m not happy with Putin. He’s killing 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, Saturday, January 3, 2026, in Palm Beach, Florida. (Alex Brandon/AP)
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Moscow has continued to bombard Kiev with large-scale drone and missile attacks as the Trump administration works to secure a possible peace deal to end the nearly four-year war.
“Russia has not shown any sincere willingness to pursue peace. Instead, it continues its aggressive war, violence and destabilization and uses negotiations as a tactic to buy time,” Zelenskyy said at the Coalition of the Willing meeting, according to a statement from his office. ‘Provocations and manipulations are being used to derail progress in the peace process’
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
