Zelenskyy Appeals To US After Trump’s Capture Of Maduro

Volodymyr Zelenskyy appeared to issue a call to action to Donald Trump after the US captured Venezuela’s president Nicolas Maduro.

The States arrested Maduro in his home in the early hours of Saturday and has already indicted him and his wife, Cilia Flores, on narco-terrorism conspiracy charges in New York.

Trump has also released photos of Maduro, blindfolded and handcuffed, on a plane out of Venezuela, and claimed the US will “run” the South American country until a safe transition of power can take place.

Asked for his response to this shocking turn of events, Ukraine’s president Zelenskyy said: “If it is possible to deal with dictators like that, just like that, then the United States of America knows what to do next.”

This was widely seen as a hint Trump should remove Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.

But the US president has adopted a very different approach to Putin compared to Maduro since returning to office last year.

While the Russian autocrat launched an invasion against the American ally Ukraine in February 2022 – and continues to hold a fifth of its sovereign land – Trump has rarely criticised the autocrat.

Throughout the peace process, he has even suggested effectively rewarding Putin for his aggression with giving Russia more of Ukraine’s territory.

Trump literally rolled out the red carpet for Putin in Alaska in August too, and has repeatedly blamed everyone – aside from Russia – for the war.

Zelenskyy has been trying to encourage Trump to take further action against Putin for some time, without alienating the mercurial US leader.

However, there did seem to be an indication the US president might be turning on Putin over the weekend as Russia continues to drag its feet over peace negotiations.

During a press conference on the US overthrow of Maduro – an ally to Russia – Trump said: “I’m not thrilled with Putin. He’s killing too many people.”

But, pointing to the high death toll in Ukraine, Trump also alleged the US is “probably making money” by supporting Nato with weapons and ammunition.

He claimed “I think we’re making progress” with a ceasefire deal between Russia and Ukraine, but did not offer any further details.

Trump once promised to end the Ukraine war within 24 hours of his second term in office. That was almost a year ago.