After Maduro capture, Trump rules out similar mission for Kremlin leader

The White House has released comments from US President Donald Trump in which he addressed a question about whether Washington might conduct a special operation to apprehend Russian President Vladimir Putin, mirroring the recent mission in Venezuela. Trump said he hoped such an action would not be required.

The topic emerged after the early-January US special operation in Caracas that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Reacting to that development, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy remarked that “if dictators can be treated this way, then the United States knows what to do next,” a statement widely interpreted as alluding to Vladimir Putin.

Against that backdrop, a journalist asked Trump whether a similar operation could be carried out in Russia. Trump responded:

"I don't think it's going to be necessary. I've always had a great relationship with him. I'm disappointed," the US president said.

Trump went on to say that he had “settled eight wars” and argued that Russia’s war against Ukraine would be “one of the easiest.”

"The last month they lost 31,000 people. Many of them Russian soldiers. I think we went up getting it settled," Trump concluded.

On January 3, the United States conducted a series of strikes in Caracas. During the special forces operation, Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife were detained and transported to the United States. There, prosecutors charged him with drug trafficking and illegal possession of automatic weapons, which US officials claim were intended for use against the United States.

Legal proceedings against Maduro are currently underway, although his trial is expected to begin only in 2027.

The longstanding confrontation between Washington and Caracas stems from oil fields originally owned by American companies but nationalised under former Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez.

Since the outset of the dispute, Trump has insisted that Venezuela return what he has described as “stolen assets, oil, and land” to the United States — demands Maduro repeatedly refused to meet.

By Tamilla Hasanova