Russia’s responses to the recent US military operation in Venezuela highlight the delicate balancing act it is engaged in vis-a-vis the Trump Administration — a balancing act that has come to define Russian foreign policy decision-making over the past year. Russian official reactions to the January 2-3 US operation in Venezuela — including airstrikes and the seizure of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Celia Flores and their transportation to the United States — were notably muted. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) issued a boilerplate condemnation of the military operation and called on Venezuela and the United States to find a diplomatic resolution.] Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke with Delcy Rodriguez, the former Venezuelan vice president and now president, on January 3, voicing Russia’s support for the Venezuelan people. Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya criticized the military operation in Venezuela as “giving new impetus to neocolonialism and imperialism” — verbiage common to Russian critiques of the broader West. Russian Security Council Chairperson Dmitry Medvedev issued a more directly scathing critique of the operation, accusing US President Donald Trump of violating international law, and then later praising Trump for protecting US interests. Medvedev also used the US seizure of Maduro to threaten German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Medvedev’s more sensationalist responses to developments in Venezuela are largely consistent with his wider role within the Russian information space, as the Kremlin often relies on Medvedev to shift the Overton Window by making extreme comments that appear to temper statements made by other senior Russian officials.
Russia’s Non-Response to US Actions in Venezuela Reveal a Kremlin Balancing Act (Institute for the Study of War)
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