{"id":48636,"date":"2026-01-23T14:38:57","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T14:38:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2026\/01\/23\/ukrainian-leaders-find-lessons-in-trumps-daring-venezuela-raid\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T17:23:54","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T17:23:54","slug":"ukrainian-leaders-find-lessons-in-trumps-daring-venezuela-raid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/2026\/01\/23\/ukrainian-leaders-find-lessons-in-trumps-daring-venezuela-raid\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukrainian leaders find lessons in Trump\u2019s daring Venezuela raid"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">KYIV, Ukraine \u2014 As U.S. President Donald Trump started the new year by flaunting American military power in Venezuela, the episode has left Ukrainian officials wondering whether Washington would exhibit a similar brand of decisiveness in 2026 to end Russian attacks on Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Jan.3 U.S. raid to capture Venezuelan strongman president Nicol\u00e1s Maduro was over before dawn, drawing praise from military leaders in Washington for its flawless execution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy watched from Kyiv and didn\u2019t bother to hide the message Ukrainians heard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf you can do that with dictators,\u201d Zelenskyy told reporters later, \u201cthen the United States knows what to do next.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He again dared the West to act against the Kremlin in his speech on Thursday at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.weforum.org\/stories\/2026\/01\/davos-2026-special-address-volodymyr-zelenskyy-president-of-ukraine\/\" rel=\"\">World Economic Forum<\/a> in Davos, where he said: \u201cMaduro is on trial in New York. Sorry, but Putin is not.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump\u2019s decision to snatch Maduro and intercept Venezuelan tankers is the decisive power Ukrainians once hoped he\u2019d use against Russia \u2014 and the sphere-of-influence move that makes them wonder how fast any U.S.-drafted peace deal could shift under their feet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges has been arguing for months that Washington has been underselling its sway with Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hodges commanded U.S. Army Europe from 2014 to 2017 \u2014 through Russia\u2019s first invasion of Ukraine and the start of the war in Donbas \u2014 and has since become one of NATO\u2019s sharpest critics of Western hesitation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cPresident Trump has enormous leverage over Russia,\u201d Hodges told Military Times. \u201cHe just has never used it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAmerican dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again,\u201d Trump declared in a<a href=\"https:\/\/millercenter.org\/the-presidency\/presidential-speeches\/january-3-2026-statement-us-action-venezuela\" rel=\"\"> White House statement<\/a> on Jan. 3. \u201cWe\u2019re going to run the country,\u201d he said, referring to Venezuela, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2026\/01\/03\/g-s1-104346\/trump-venezuela-maduro-press-conference\" rel=\"\">NPR<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Moscow seemed to know what was coming. Kremlin officials began evacuating the families of Russian diplomats in Venezuela days before the U.S. launched its attack, the <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/trump-venezuela-tankers-shipbuilding-3c711c500a627243329807df42fa6ef8\" rel=\"\">AP<\/a> reported on Dec. 23. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs later denied in an X post that it was sending its representatives home, but did not address whether diplomats\u2019 families had been asked to leave. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Kremlin had advance warning \u2014 and didn\u2019t seem to warn Maduro or take any serious defensive action. Putin\u2019s foreign ministry protested after the fact; Putin himself stayed silent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the same time, the domestic pushback to Trump\u2019s attack on the oil-rich South American nation has been fierce, even among some in his own party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBombing another nation\u2019s capital and ousting their leader constitutes an act of war, plain and simple,\u201d said Sen. Rand Paul, per <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2026\/01\/08\/venezuela-senate-voting-on-halting-military-action-after-maduro-capture.html\" rel=\"\">CNBC<\/a>. \u201cThe Constitution does not grant such authority to the presidency.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But Trump has kept going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Vice President JD Vance announced on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/trump-admin-control-venezuelan-oil-sales-radical-shift-aimed-restarting-crude-flow\" rel=\"\">Fox News<\/a> that the U.S. now \u201ccontrols the energy resources\u201d of Venezuela and tells the regime what oil it can sell so long as it serves \u201cAmerica\u2019s national interest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt declared that Venezuelan authorities\u2019 decisions would \u201ccontinue to be dictated by the United States of America,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2026\/01\/08\/us-plans-to-dictate-all-venezuelan-oil-sales-amid-further-tanker-seizures\" rel=\"\">Euronews<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Venezuela proved Trump could move fast, confront Moscow, and bulldoze Congress when he wants to. For officials across Europe and Ukraine, it confirmed what Hodges had warned: Trump has the leverage. He just hasn\u2019t decided Kyiv is worth using it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What this means for Kyiv<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Analysts at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chathamhouse.org\/2026\/01\/us-attacks-venezuela-and-maduro-captured-early-analysis-chatham-house-experts\" rel=\"\">Chatham House<\/a> warned that allies \u201cwill be far from reassured,\u201d noting Trump\u2019s \u201cwillingness \u2013 indeed, as displayed during his press conference, exhilaration \u2013 to use US military power is clear.\u201d Experts at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.brookings.edu\/articles\/making-sense-of-the-us-military-operation-in-venezuela\/\" rel=\"\">Brookings Institution<\/a> put it more bluntly: \u201cUkrainians are likely watching in grim recognition\u201d of how little leverage they have when Washington decides to move.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meanwhile, earlier this month French President Emmanuel Macron gave voice to the fear that global norms are beginning to crumble. In his annual address to French ambassadors, he warned that the United States was \u201cbreaking free from international rules\u201d and \u201cgradually turning away\u201d from its allies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe are living in a world of great powers,\u201d Macron said, \u201cwith a real temptation to divide up the world,\u201d<a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/france\/20260108-live-macron-sets-out-foreign-policy-priorities-speech-french-ambassadors\" rel=\"\"> <\/a>according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/france\/20260108-live-macron-sets-out-foreign-policy-priorities-speech-french-ambassadors\" rel=\"\">France 24<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Days earlier, Macron had convened<a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/global\/europe\/2025\/12\/18\/how-a-us-led-peace-plan-in-ukraine-is-reshaping-global-alliances\/\" rel=\"\"> 35 participants in Paris to address the messy peace negotiations<\/a> \u2014 including ceasefire monitoring, armed forces support, and long-term defense cooperation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Instead of Secretary of State Marc Rubio, Trump sent Steve Witkoff, his special envoy and longtime real estate friend with no diplomatic experience, and son-in-law Jared Kushner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For Kyiv, it was a signal: Venezuela has the secretary of state\u2019s attention. Ukraine gets the B-team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ukrainians are watching the new dynamics closely. In December polling by the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kiis.com.ua\/?lang=eng&amp;cat=reports&amp;id=1569&amp;page=1\" rel=\"\"> Kyiv International Institute of Sociology<\/a>, only 21% of Ukrainians said they trusted the United States \u2014 down from 41% in December 2024. Distrust rose from 24% to 48%. The phrase that kept surfacing in interviews: \u201cbargaining chip.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A senior European diplomat with knowledge of the peace negotiations, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said there is a bigger picture at play for American leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cTrump doesn\u2019t see Ukraine in isolation,\u201d the diplomat told Military Times. \u201cHe sees it as one lever among many \u2014 from sanctions to oil to troop deployments \u2014 and that is terrifying if you live inside the theater he is trading over.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Where this is heading<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s a shame that the erstwhile leader of the free world has decided to withdraw to the Western Hemisphere when our European allies are facing the greatest security threat since World War II,\u201d Ian Kelly, who served as U.S. ambassador to Georgia and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, told Military Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBut that\u2019s the world Europe has now. It\u2019s not the world they want, but it\u2019s the world they\u2019re dealing with.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Zelenskyy seems to agree. Days after Caracas, he offered a dare to the newly war-ready American president: If Trump could topple a dictator in 90 minutes, when would that firepower point east?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cLet them carry out some operation against Kadyrov, this murderer,\u201d Zelenskyy said,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pravda.com.ua\/eng\/news\/2026\/01\/07\/8015049\/\" rel=\"\"> Ukrainska Pravda<\/a> reported. Ramzan Kadyrov, the Chechen strongman who has ruled the republic since 2007 with Putin\u2019s blessing, commands forces accused of war crimes in Ukraine and runs what human rights groups call a personal fiefdom built on torture and disappearances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMaybe Putin will see that and stop to think.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dared the West to act against the Kremlin in his speech on Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":111261,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":46,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[160,46,11,36,30,226],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3480],"class_list":["post-48636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-europe","category-global","category-newsletters","category-smr","category-venezuela"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"TUTUNNCMQZGE3PNL53W2WKPJQ4","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2026\/01\/23\/ukrainian-leaders-find-lessons-in-trumps-daring-venezuela-raid\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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