Overview
- After a phone call, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Sergey Lavrov and Belarus’s Maxim Ryzhenkov urged returning Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores to Caracas and reinstating Maduro as head of state.
- Moscow and Minsk jointly condemned what they described as U.S. aggression against a sovereign state in violation of international law, according to the Russian ministry.
- In a separate statement, Russia’s MFA urged Washington to release the “legitimately elected” Venezuelan leader and cited “confirmed reports” that he is in the United States.
- TASS reported that Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil Pinto said the United States struck civilian and military targets in Caracas and that a state of emergency was declared.
- TASS also reported that President Donald Trump said the United States launched major airstrikes and that Maduro and his wife were captured and taken out of the country.