Dmitry Medvedev has warned that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy could face the same fate as Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, following what he described as a U.S. ‘abduction’ of the Venezuelan president.
In a wide-ranging statement released on Sunday, the Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council accused Washington of orchestrating Maduro’s detention and suggested European governments had responded with ‘cowardice’.
The former Russian president said Zelenskyy could become the next target of a U.S.-backed removal if he failed to comply with Washington’s demands.
Medvedev made the remarks to Russia’s state news agency TASS, presenting Maduro’s detention not as a democratic process but as a ‘kidnapping’ driven by U.S. interests in natural resources.
Medvedev strongly criticised European reactions to events in Caracas, describing them as a ‘classic case of double standards’ and accusing EU leaders of subservience to the United States.
Using inflammatory language, he dismissed European arguments about the legitimacy of Venezuela’s leadership and claimed Brussels was seeking to justify what he described as a "flagrant violation of international law."
He singled out European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, likening her to a cartoon villain from Soviet-era animation for portraying the U.S. operation as a democratic transition.
Medvedev drew a direct comparison between Maduro and Zelenskyy, repeating the Kremlin’s claim that the Ukrainian president’s term had expired.
He warned that if the U.S. was prepared to detain a Latin American leader on drug trafficking charges, it could apply similar logic to Ukraine should its leadership refuse a potential agreement with Donald Trump.
Medvedev suggested Zelenskyy’s removal could happen in the near future, using derogatory language to describe the Ukrainian leadership and nationalists.
Resources and power politics
While condemning the legality of the U.S. operation in Venezuela, Medvedev said it reflected a consistent approach by Trump, which he characterised as the forceful pursuit of U.S. national interests.
He claimed Washington’s primary motivation was access to oil in Latin America and rare earth minerals in Ukraine, describing U.S. foreign policy as operating on the principle of "the right of the strongest".
Medvedev also speculated that other countries could be at risk, making sarcastic references to Greenland and German politics.
Concluding his remarks, Medvedev dismissed the United Nations as ineffective, arguing it had failed to prevent wars or genocides.
He said nuclear weapons remained the strongest guarantee of national security, claiming Russia’s arsenal was the main factor restraining Western powers.
Medvedev warned that the U.S. operation in Venezuela could prompt non-nuclear states to reconsider their security strategies.
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Dmitry Medvedev, said European countries have failed to defeat Russia in Ukraine and have instead inflicted serious economic damage on themselves, as he criticised EU policy, praised Donald Trump as a leader who seeks peace, and said Russia would “soon” achieve military victory in the war.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned on Monday that Europe cannot afford a war with Russia, but if its leaders were to trigger one, it could spiral into a conflict involving weapons of mass destruction.
Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is a hardline cleric with strong backing from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. His rise signals continuity in Tehran's anti-Western policies.
Global oil prices surpassed $119 a barrel on Monday (9 March, 2026), an almost four year high, as the Middle East conflict rumbled on.
Trump says the United States "don’t need people that join wars after we’ve already won," targeting his criticism at UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Israel continues to fire missles at strategic sites in Iran and Gulf regions report more strikes from Iran.
China has urged Afghanistan and Pakistan to resolve their dispute through dialogue after Chinese envoy Yue Xiaoyong met Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, as fighting between the two neighbours entered its eleventh day.
Iran named Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his father Ali Khamenei as supreme leader on Monday (9 March), signaling that hardliners remain firmly in charge, as the week-old U.S.-Israeli war with Iran pushed oil above $100 a barrel.
U.S. President Donald Trump and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke by phone on Sunday as tensions between Washington and Westminster deepened over the conflict involving Iran. The call came less than a day after Trump criticised Britain’s response to U.S. strikes on Iranian targets.
Norwegian police are searching for a suspect after an explosion at the U.S. embassy in Oslo on 8 March caused minor damage but no injuries, in what authorities say may have been a deliberate attack linked to the Middle East crisis.
An explosion damaged a synagogue in the Belgian city of Liège early on Monday (9 March) in what authorities said was an antisemitic attack that caused damage but no injuries.
The Group of Seven (G7) finance ministers will meet on Monday to discuss a global rise in oil prices and a joint release of oil from emergency reserves coordinated by the International Energy Agency, the Financial Times reports.
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