President Donald Trump has dismissed the idea of launching a US-led operation to capture Russian leader Vladimir Putin, stating he does not believe such an action would be necessary.
His comments came following a question from a journalist referencing the recent US military operation in Venezuela that led to the capture of Nicolás Maduro.
Speaking at a meeting with oil and gas executives, Trump said, “I don’t think that will be necessary,” when asked whether he would consider a similar approach toward Putin. He added, “I’ve always had a great relationship with him. I’m very disappointed.”
Trump further noted that he believed the war in Ukraine would be among the easier global conflicts to resolve. “I settled eight wars,” he said. “I thought this would be one of the easier ones.”
The US president also referred to recent developments in the Russia-Ukraine war, stating, “Over the past month, they’ve lost 31,000 people—many of them Russian soldiers—and the Russian economy is in poor shape.”
The question posed to Trump followed a rare direct action by US forces in early January. On January 3, explosions were reported in Caracas, Venezuela’s capital, followed by a loss of electricity in parts of the city and air activity overhead. Venezuelan authorities later accused the United States of military aggression and declared a state of emergency.
US forces detained Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife. The pair were transported to the United States, where Maduro faces charges related to drug trafficking and the illegal possession of automatic weapons.
Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy referenced the operation, stating that if the US can act decisively with dictators, “they know what to do next”—a comment widely interpreted as a reference to Russia’s leadership.
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