Washington – US President Donald Trump said Monday it would be “smart” for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to step down, as US naval forces pressed a blockade on the South American country’s oil wealth.
Firing back just hours later, Maduro said that Trump would be “better off” if he focused on domestic problems rather than threatening Caracas.
“He would be better off in his own country on economic and social issues, and he would be better off in the world if he took care of his country’s affairs,” Maduro said in a speech broadcast on public television.
The pledge from Moscow, which is embroiled in the war in Ukraine, came on the eve of a UN Security Council meeting Tuesday to discuss the mounting crisis.
In a phone call, the foreign ministers of the allied nations blasted the US actions, which have included strikes on alleged drug-trafficking boats and the seizure of two oil tankers.
A third ship was being pursued, a US official told AFP on Sunday.
Trump also needs Venezuela.
‘He can do whatever he wants’ — Trump on Maduro
‘If he wants to do something, if he plays tough, it’ll be the last time he’s ever able to play tough’ pic.twitter.com/lAiBgdBFZ2
— Victor vicktop55 commentary (@vick55top) December 23, 2025
“The ministers expressed their deep concern over the escalation of Washington’s actions in the Caribbean Sea, which could have serious consequences for the region and threaten international shipping,” the Russian foreign ministry said of the call between Sergei Lavrov and Venezuelan counterpart Yvan Gil.
“The Russian side reaffirmed its full support for and solidarity with the Venezuelan leadership and people in the current context,” it added in a statement.
US forces have since September launched strikes on boats that Washington claims, without providing evidence, were trafficking drugs in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean.
More than 100 people have been killed – some of them fishermen, according to their families and governments.
The latest strike hit a “low-profile vessel” in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing one occupant, the US military said on Monday.
Last week, Trump also announced a blockade of “sanctioned oil vessels” sailing to and from Venezuela.
Trump claims Caracas is using oil money to finance “drug terrorism, human trafficking, murder and kidnapping.”
Caracas, in turn, fears Washington is seeking regime change, and has accused Washington of “international piracy.”
Moscow’s statement said Lavrov and Gil agreed in their call to “coordinate their actions on the international stage, particularly at the UN.”
Russia and China, another Venezuela ally, backed Caracas’s request for a UNSC meeting to discuss what it called “the ongoing US aggression.”
🚨 BREAKING: Donald Trump says he will not only strike Venezuela 🇻🇪 but any country that sends drugs into the United States 🇺🇸. He added that the U.S. will keep the seized oil and confiscated ships.
Trump also said he has already spoken with major oil companies about what comes… pic.twitter.com/IriKuKypxd
— WAR (@warsurveillance) December 23, 2025
Russia’s ‘hands full’
On Telegram, Venezuela’s Gil said he and Lavrov had discussed “the aggressions and flagrant violations of international law being perpetrated in the Caribbean: attacks on vessels, extrajudicial executions, and illicit acts of piracy carried out by the United States government.”
Gil said Lavrov had affirmed Moscow’s “full support in the face of hostilities against our country.”
Last week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio brushed aside Moscow’s stated support for Caracas.
Washington, he said, was “not concerned about an escalation with Russia with regards to Venezuela” as “they have their hands full in Ukraine.”
US-Russia relations have soured in recent weeks as Trump has voiced frustration with Moscow over the lack of a resolution to the Ukraine war.
Gil on Monday also read a letter on state TV, signed by Maduro and addressed to UN member nations, warning the US blockade “will affect the supply of oil and energy” globally.
Follow African Insider on Facebook, X and Instagram
Picture: X/@RedLineReportt
For more African news, visit Africaninsider.com
Source: AFP
