Russian ambassador to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya said the Kremlin “firmly condemns” the United States’s arrest of former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro, calling on the U.S. government to release him.
The Trump administration executed an overnight capture of Maduro from Venezuela early Saturday, arresting him on drug trafficking charges and bringing him to New York for his federal arraignment. In response to Maduro’s arrest, the U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting in New York City to discuss the operations.
“There is no justification for the crime cynically perpetrated by the United States in Caracas, nor can there ever be any. We firmly condemn the act of armed aggression by the United States against Venezuela in breach of all norms of international law,” Nebenzya said.
Russia, a staunch ally of Venezuela, supported Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s request for a Security Council hearing.
The Russian ambassador referred to Maduro as “the abducted President of Venezuela,” and urged the U.S. to “immediately release” Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. Nebenzya stood behind Maduro, calling him the “legitimately elected president of an independent state,” according to a translation of Nebenzya’s speech.
This stance is in direct contrast with the U.S.’s long-standing, bipartisan view of Maduro as an illegitimate leader who wrongfully claimed control after losing Venezuela’s 2024 presidential election.
“Maduro is NOT the president of Venezuela and his regime is NOT the legitimate government. Maduro is the head of the Cartel de Los Soles, a narco-terror organization which has taken possession of a country. And he is under indictment for pushing drugs into the United States,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.
Nebenzya, whose country has been at the epicenter of much international scrutiny for its war on Ukraine, ripped the U.N. for “selectively” applying its charter to its member nations “depending on what suits them politically.”
“We call upon the U.S. leadership to immediately release the legitimately elected president of an independent state and his spouse. Any problems and contradictions between the U.S. and Venezuela need to be resolved through dialogue. And this is precisely what is enshrined in the U.N. charter, with some countries, however, starting to invoke the goals and principles thereof selectively, depending on what suits them politically,” Nebenzya said.
The White House celebrated the capture as a path to global peace.
“The successful rendition of Nicolas Maduro to the United States to answer for his lifetime of crimes was lawful. As in prior administrations, the entire Trump Administration coordinated to arrest the head of a major narco-trafficking Foreign Terrorist Organization, who has long been a fugitive of American justice. Once again, President Trump‘s decisive leadership will result in peace in the world,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told the Washington Examiner.
Maduro pleaded not guilty to the drug trafficking charges brought before him on Monday, calling himself “a decent man” before federal Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein.
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President Donald Trump has insisted that the United States will be “in charge” of running Venezuela following Maduro’s arrest.
“We’re not going to just do this with Maduro, then leave like everybody else — leave and say, you know, ‘Let it go to hell,'” Trump told reporters on Saturday. “If we just left, it has zero chance of ever coming back. We’ll run it properly. We’ll run it professionally.”
