Putin offers 'solidarity' for Venezuelan people as tensions mount
between Maduro and US
[December 12, 2025]
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed
“solidarity with the Venezuelan people" on Thursday amid growing
tensions between Venezuela's leader, Nicolás Maduro, and the Trump
administration.
The Kremlin said in a statement that Putin spoke with Maduro by phone
and reaffirmed his support for Venezuelan leader's policy of “protecting
national interests and sovereignty in the face of growing external
pressure.”
The call comes a day after American forces seized an oil tanker off the
coast of Venezuela, the latest tactic from U.S. President Donald Trump's
administration to ramp up pressure on Maduro, who has been charged with
narcoterrorism in the United States.
During testimony before Congress on Thursday, Homeland Security
Secretary Kristi Noem linked the seizure of the vessel to the Trump
administration’s anti-drug efforts in the region. The U.S. has built up
its largest military presence in the region in decades and launched a
series of deadly strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats.
Maduro has insisted the real purpose of the U.S. military operations is
to force him from office. Venezuela’s government said the tanker seizure
“constitutes a blatant theft and an act of international piracy.”
The South American country's government said that Putin had
“categorically reaffirmed his support” for Maduro in their call.
It said in a statement that Putin had told Maduro that direct
communication between Moscow and Caracas would “remain permanently open”
and Russia would continue to support Venezuela “in its struggle to
assert its sovereignty, international law, and peace throughout Latin
America.”
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President Nicolas Maduro addresses supporters during a rally marking
the anniversary of the Battle of Santa Ines, which took place during
Venezuela's 19th-century Federal War, in Caracas, Venezuela,
Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
Like his predecessor, the late President Hugo Chávez, Maduro has
forged a close relationship with Russia, which has offered Venezuela
help, ranging from coronavirus vaccines to the design of a
cryptocurrency. In 2018, it also briefly dispatched a pair of
nuclear-capable Tu-160 bombers to the airport outside Venezuela’s
capital amid soaring Russia-U.S. tensions.
Last year, two Russian naval ships docked in the Venezuelan port of
La Guaira after exercises in the Atlantic Ocean that Moscow said
were to “show the flag” in remote, important regions.
In Belarus, authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, a Putin
ally, met with the Venezuelan ambassador to Russia, Jesus Rafael
Salazar Velázquez, on Thursday, for the second time in just over two
weeks.
Details of what was discussed were not revealed, but Belarus' state
news agency Belta quoted Lukashenko as saying that the diplomat was
expected to discuss “certain issues” with Maduro after their first
meeting on Nov. 25 and to travel to Belarus again, so that they
could reach “a certain decision.”
During the November meeting, Lukashenko extended an invitation to
Maduro to visit Belarus, and said that he would try and find the
time to visit Venezuela, too.
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