Russian politicians say Trump strike on Venezuela unlawful, destabilising

MOSCOW, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Russia’s Security Council deputy chairman Dmitry Medvedev and a senior lawmaker said over the weekend that U.S. President Donald Trump’s actions in Venezuela were unlawful and destabilising, while portraying them as a blunt assertion of U.S. interests.

The comments followed Trump’s statement that the United States struck Venezuela and that Maduro and his wife were captured and taken out of the country, prompting international reaction and calls for urgent UN discussions.

Medvedev told TASS on Sunday that Trump’s behaviour was illegal but internally coherent because it pursued U.S. interests.

“It must be acknowledged that, despite the obvious unlawfulness of Trump’s behaviour, one cannot deny a certain consistency in his actions. He and his team defend their country’s national interests quite harshly,” Medvedev was quoted as saying.

Medvedev said Latin America was viewed as the United States’ “backyard” and suggested Trump was seeking leverage over Venezuela’s oil supplies.

“Uncle Sam’s main motivation has always been simple: other people’s supplies,” Medvedev said, according to TASS.

He added that if such an operation were carried out against a stronger country, it would be seen as an act of war.

Alexei Pushkov, a Russian senator who chairs a Federation Council commission on information policy, said the operation and Trump’s rhetoric might prove less effective than their dramatic impact.

“One cannot deny that Trump’s actions and especially his statements are striking. Their effectiveness is another matter,” Pushkov said on the Telegram messaging app.

He compared the episode to what he called premature U.S. declarations of victory in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, arguing that initial “triumphs” later turned into defeat or prolonged crises.

Pushkov said the United States, by attacking Venezuela and seizing its president, had violated norms and “alarmed the whole world,” returning it to “the wild imperialism of the 19th century” and reviving a Wild West right to act at will in the Western Hemisphere.

“But what will the final result be? Will this ‘triumph’ not turn into a catastrophe?” he said.

Russia has long maintained close ties with Venezuela, spanning energy cooperation, military links and high-level political contacts, and Moscow has backed Caracas diplomatically for years as both countries seek to deepen trade and investment.

(Reporting and writing by Vladimir Soldatkin and Lidia Kelly; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Stephen Coates)