Zelensky suggests Trump ought to arrest ‘dictator’ Putin after capturing Venezuelan chief Nicolás Maduro – as Ukrainian president says ‘the US is aware of what to do subsequent’

Volodymyr Zelensky has suggested Vladimir Putin should now be detained – after the US captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and flew him out of the country in an extraordinary military operation. 

Speaking to reporters after a meeting with European national security advisors on Saturday, the Ukrainian president was asked about Donald Trumps’ military action against Venezuela. 

‘How should I react to this? What can I say?’, Zelensky said with a wry smile. 

‘If it’s possible to deal with dictators this way, then the US knows what to do next’, he added, insinuating that Trump should deal with Russia’s Putin in a similar way for his full-scale invasion of Ukraine. 

The Ukrainian president’s remarks come as the Venezuelan leader and his wife were flown out the country this morning and have been indicted in the United States on drugs and weapons charges.

The indictment of President Maduro and his wife in the Southern District of New York was confirmed by US Attorney General Pam Bondi this afternoon.

She said Maduro had been charged with: ‘Narco-Terrorism Conspiracy, Cocaine Importation Conspiracy, Possession of Machineguns and Destructive Devices, and Conspiracy to Possess Machineguns and Destructive Devices against the United States’.

‘They will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts,’ Bondi added. It is not clear what charges Maduro’s wife is facing.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksy has called for the removal of Vladimir Putin after the US captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro

Zelensky insinuated that Putin (pictured) should be dealt with in the same way as Maduro

Nicolas Maduro on board the USS Iwo Jima Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026

Trump later shared a shocking photo of Maduro on board the USS Iwo Jima on social media, showing the captured Venezuelan leader wearing a black blindfold and a grey sweatshirt.

Trump released a statement earlier today saying the US had ‘successfully’ carried out a military strike after several explosions rocked in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas.

Zelensky’s comments also come as national security advisers from Europe visited Kyiv on Saturday to discuss security guarantees and economic support as a US-led diplomatic push to end the nearly four-year-old war in Ukraine intensifies.

The Ukrainian president said work on the peace proposals could now accelerate as Ukraine has shared all documents under discussion with the 18 national security advisers, including those on security guarantees.

‘We expect that this further work will now take place in the capitals of European countries as well as Canada, Japan and other representatives of the Coalition of the Willing,’ he said, referring to the approximately 30 countries who support Kyiv’s effort to end the war with Russia on acceptable terms.

Zelensky’s comments come as national security advisers from Europe visited Kyiv on Saturday to discuss security guarantees and economic support for Ukraine as its war with Russia rages on

‘We are not allocating a great deal of time for this process,’ Zelensky added.

Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro has been indicted in the United States on drugs and weapons charges after he was ‘captured and flown out of the country’

He said representatives from Ukraine’s General Staff and military sector would meet on Monday in Paris, followed by a meeting Tuesday of European leaders, where he said he hoped documents on security guarantees would be finalized. He said there also would be meetings with US representatives in Paris. 

Meanwhile, the death toll from a Russian missile attack on the city of Kharkiv on Friday increased to two, including a three-year-old boy, Kharkiv regional head Oleh Syniehubov wrote on Telegram. 

An overnight Russian drone attack on the Mykolaiv region targeted critical infrastructure and left some communities without electricity, according to regional head Vitalii Kim. He said engineers spent the night working to restore power and there were no casualties reported.