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Donald Trump should capture Russian President Vladimir Putin and put him on trial like former Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has suggested.
Zelensky was asked about the capture of Maduro during a Saturday-morning press conference.
“How should I react to this? What can I say?” the Ukrainian leader replied.
“If it’s possible to deal with dictators this way, then the US knows what to do next,” he added—clearly suggesting that Trump should make his Russian counterpart his next target.
Zelensky’s incendiary remarks come at a crucial moment in negotiations to bring his country’s three-year war with Russia to an end.
Trump and Zelensky met last weekend at Mar-a-Lago to discuss the negotiations.
Speaking at a press conference after the meeting, both leaders confirmed the meeting was productive, but also cautioned that certain aspects of President Trump’s 20-point plan remain to be agreed.
The main sticking points are security guarantees for Ukraine and the sovereignty of the eastern Donbas region, 90% of which Russia currently controls.
“There are one or two very thorny, very tough issues” relating to security, Trump told reporters.
“The land you’re talking about, some of that land has been taken. Some of that land is maybe up for grabs, but it may be taken over the next period of a number of months.”
Trump added that Ukraine is “better off making a deal now” than further down the line, when she may lose more territory.
Russia is one of a number of nations that has called for the release of Maduro and his wife after their capture.
“In view of the confirmed reports about Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his spouse being in the United States, we strongly urge the US leadership to reconsider their position and release the legitimately elected president of a sovereign country and his spouse,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
“We highlight the need to create conditions for resolving any existing issues between the United States and Venezuela through dialogue.”
On Saturday night, Maduro was seen making a “perp walk” at DEA headquarters in New York.
Maduro wore black sweats and a black hat as he clutched a water bottle while being escorted through the Chelsea facility before being taken to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
As he walked, he wished agents a “Happy New Year.”
Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured from their home in a stunning nighttime raid operation in Venezuela’s capital of Caracas early on Saturday morning.
The couple were taken on board the USS Iwo Jima, in the Caribbean, and from there travelled to the US to face federal narco-terrorism charges and other offenses in the Southern District of New York.
When they arrived at the DEA building in Brooklyn, they were greeted by hundreds of revelers celebrating their arrest.
“It’s such a joy to see the dictator fall, but the regime hasn’t fallen yet,” Venezuelan national Ronny Chirinos, who came to New York three years ago due to Maduro’s regime, told The New York Post.
“I want everything to fall. That there is no one left.”
Maduro and his wife are expected to appear in court as soon as Monday.
President Trump has promised they will face “the full wrath of American justice.”
