Russia mocked over ‘ironic’ reaction to Trump’s actions in Venezuela amid Ukraine war

As people draw comparisons between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin following the US president’s strikes on Venezuela and the ‘capture’ of Nicolás Maduro, the Russian Foreign Ministry is being ridiculed online for branding America’s actions as “an unacceptable violation of the sovereignty of an independent state”, given its illegal invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The ministry’s initial statement on Saturday morning saw it criticise America’s “act of armed aggression against Venezuela”, which it said “warrants condemnation”.

“In the current situation, it is essential above all to prevent further escalation and to focus on finding a solution through dialogue. We proceed from the understanding that all parties that may have grievances against one another must seek solutions through dialogue-based mechanisms. We stand ready to support such efforts,” it added.

This comes from a country which struck Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine with missiles on Friday, killing at least two people and injury around 25 more, and said its approach to ceasefire negotiations would be “revised” following claims of an attack from Kyiv on one of Putin’s residences – allegations Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has dismissed as “lies”.

Then, addressing the ‘capture’ of Maduro, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said: “We are extremely concerned by reports that the President of Venezuela Nicolás Maduro and his spouse were forcibly taken out of the country during today’s aggressive actions by the United States. We demand immediate clarification of these reports.

“If such actions did in fact take place, they represent an unacceptable violation of the sovereignty of an independent state, the respect for which is a fundamental principle of international law.”

And finally, its third statement on Saturday saw the Russian MFA “strongly urge” the Trump administration to "reconsider their position and release the legitimately elected president of a sovereign country and his spouse”.

It continued: “We highlight the need to create conditions for resolving any existing issues between the United States and Venezuela through dialogue.”

All of these comments have since been roasted by X/Twitter users who have pointed out the “irony”:

“BREAKING: Irony just died,” tweeted broadcaster Piers Morgan:

Another account replied with a meme which reads: “Hello pot… meet kettle”:

Historian Simon Sebag Montefiore said it was “the definition of paradoxical irony”:

And Kyiv-based freelance journalist and security analyst Jimmy Rushton commented: “Russia is the last country on Earth that gets to complain about ‘grave violations of sovereignty and international law’”:

Meanwhile, Zelensky has responded to the US capture of Maduro by saying: “If you can do that with dictators, then the United States knows what to do next.”

Why not read...?

• Trump accused of falling asleep during yet another important event
• JD Vance criticised after stating attack on Venezuela wasn’t ‘illegal’

Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.