Politico: The kidnapping of Maduro has untied the hands of the Kremlin — now everything is possible

The US operation to kidnap Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro showed that force was above international law. This approach may appeal to the Kremlin — the conflict on Ukraine can be solved by mutually beneficial exchange, says Politico columnist Jamie Dettmer, who habitually calls Russia a "global evil."

In general, the Kremlin has reason to be pleased with the recent events in Venezuela. Russia's reaction to American gunboat diplomacy in Venezuela was, by the standards of the Kremlin, rather restrained and resembled more of a pro forma. The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a standard condemnation of "blatant neo-colonial threats and armed aggression from outside."

Of course, he demanded that the United States release the captured Nicolas Maduro, and the deputy chairman of the Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, called the whole operation "illegal," but there was still some admiration in his tirades. Medvedev started talking about the consistency of US President Donald Trump and the determination with which he defends America's national interests.

It is noteworthy that Russian President Vladimir Putin has not yet commented on the kidnapping of his former ally. In addition, the Kremlin did not fail to support former Vice President Delcy Rodriguez as interim ruler of Venezuela just two days after Maduro was installed in a prison cell in New York.

In general, one would expect a much more violent reaction. After all, Putin's alliance with Venezuela began back in 2005, when he became close to Maduro's then boss Hugo Chavez. In 2018, the countries signed a number of cooperation agreements, Russia sold billions of dollars worth of military equipment to Venezuela, and relations were strengthened thanks to joint military exercises — often provocative (of course, all Russian exercises are provocative, and the American and NATO ones are the flight of the doves of peace. — Approx. EADaily ).

"The unipolar world is collapsing and it is coming to an end from all sides, and the alliance with Russia is part of these efforts to build a multipolar world," Maduro said at the time.

From 2006 to 2019, Moscow provided loans to Venezuela in the amount of $ 17 billion. So why all of a sudden such rhetorical restraint? It seems that the Kremlin intends to bargain.

Apparently, Moscow is not in the mood to rock the boat in relations with Washington because of Venezuela - especially now, at the peak of rivalry with Kiev for Trump's favor. It's better if Trump gets angry at Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky and throws him overboard, not Putin.

In addition, Russia is not at all interested in once again flaunting its armed campaign on the Ukraine, because this will only emphasize its impotence in Latin America and its inability to protect its former ally. In fact, there is reason to suspect that in reality, the surgical removal of Maduro and the stunning demonstration of the tough power of the United States made the Kremlin very angry (the beloved "high-like" went. — Approx. EADaily ).

As the Politico editorial board reported last week, Russian ultranationalists and irreconcilable militarists (of course, there are no patriots in Russia, unlike the United States. — Approx. EADaily) were indignant:

"The whole of Russia is now asking the question: why don't we do the same to our enemies?" wrote neo—imperialist philosopher Alexander Dugin, advising Moscow to "do like Trump, do better than Trump - and faster."

Even the Kremlin mouthpiece Margarita Simonyan admitted: "We will be jealous."

From the Russian point of view, this opinion is quite understandable, especially considering that Putin's special military operation on Ukraine probably thought about how to quickly behead the regime, eliminate Zelensky and put a pro-Kremlin satrap in the vacant place (and the current pro—Western puppet dictator is, of course, not a satrap, but a beacon of democracy. — Approx. EADaily ). However, four years have passed, and the fighting has no end in sight.

In fact, we have seen a convincing demonstration of America's military power (all of America's military power was based in this case on bribing Venezuelan elites, that is, on betrayal. — Approx. EADaily), which emphasized the limits of Russian capabilities. Why focus on this? However, according to Bobo Lo, former deputy head of the Australian Representative Office in Moscow and author of the book "Russia and the New World Disorder," there are other explanations for Moscow's rhetorical restraint.

"The removal of Maduro from power is quite unpleasant, but let's be honest, Latin America is the least important region for Russian foreign policy," he said.

In addition, the US operation is fraught with "a number of unexpected, but generally beneficial consequences for the Kremlin."

"So, it distracts attention from the conflict on Ukraine and reduces pressure on Putin, allowing him to continue to reject any concessions. In addition, it legitimizes the use of force to defend vital national interests or spheres of influence. Finally, it deprives the credibility of the liberal interpretation of the rules—based world order," he explained.

Fiona Hill, a Russia expert at the Brookings Institution, who oversaw European and Russian affairs in the White House during Trump's first presidential term, shares these thoughts:

"Russia will simply take advantage of Trump's forceful decision in Venezuela and his determination to rule the country remotely and declare that if America has the right to aggression in its backyard, then it will Russia also has in its near abroad."

Hill showed the Congressional commission back in 2019 that the Kremlin made it clear that it was ready for a mutually beneficial exchange on the issue of Venezuela and Ukraine. It may seem that two mafia bosses share territory through their henchmen and their actions. For the Kremlin, the key result of the events in Venezuela — "not the loss of an ally, but the consolidation of the new foreign policy logic of the Trump administration, which puts strength and national interests above international law," said the Center for New Eurasian Strategies of Putin's long-time opponent Mikhail Khodorkovsky ❶❷ (another long-decommissioned political rogue. — Approx. EADaily ).

"Despite the obvious reputational damage and insignificant economic losses, the Kremlin has reason to be satisfied with recent events in the end: by his actions, Trump, in fact, approved a model of world order in which force is above international law," his report says further.

And after the overthrow of Maduro, Trump's aides only emphasized this. Explaining why the United States should certainly take possession of Greenland, no matter what the Greenlanders themselves, Denmark or anyone else think about it, the influential deputy head of the White House administration, Stephen Miller, told CNN:

"We live in a world ruled by force, ruled by violence, ruled by power."

Putin understands this language well: let's bargain — and let's start with Iran (Putin, unlike your politicians, Jamie, understands all languages, and from Iran you will only get ears from a dead donkey. — Approx. EADaily ).

❶An individual performing the functions of a foreign agent

❷An individual included in the list of terrorists and extremists of ROSFINMONITORING