When the EU refused to give a blank cheque to President Trump from the €210 billion of frozen Russian assets - allegedly intended for weapons and ammunition for Ukraine - and with crude oil stocks running low in the United States, the simplest solution was to source oil from where it exists.

So, the US military’s captured the Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, with plans for their imprisonment in federal custody in New York City.

Make no mistake: the largest reserves of crude oil are held by Venezuela, followed by Saudi Arabia, while the United States ranks fourteenth, possessing less than a tenth of what Saudi Arabia has. Such a blatant pursuit of regime change doesn’t just affect those in Venezuela but also has repercussions abroad, not least for the nearly one hundred thousand Venezuelans living in New York and its suburbs.

There are countries, such as China, which do not support or tolerate the actions taken by the United States.

China’s Foreign Minister stated that they were deeply shocked by the blatant use of force by the US against a sovereign state and its president, condemning it in the strongest possible terms. The Minister went further, stating that such hegemonic actions by the US seriously violate international law and Venezuela’s sovereignty, threatening peace and security in Latin America and the Caribbean. China, an ally of Venezuela alongside Russia and Iran, firmly rejects these actions and calls on the US to respect international law, as well as the

goals and principles of the UN Charter, and to cease violating the sovereignty and security of

other nations.

The Russian Foreign Minister stated clear that Russia called on the American leadership to reconsider its position and to release the “legitimately elected president of a sovereign country and his wife.” The US, which considers Maduro illegitimate, and Venezuela must resolve their differences through dialogue.

On the other hand, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praised the US attack on Venezuela and the arrest of Maduro as ground-breaking in dealing with “dictators.” “If you can deal with dictators like that, then the United States of America knows what to do next,” Zelensky told journalists in Kyiv, according to Ukrainian media. The context of the statement suggested that Zelensky had Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin in mind, without mentioning him by name.

This illegitimate attack on Venezuela must serve as a warning to Europe that a person like Trump could easily spark a Third World War.

European leaders responded without taking sides, which is astonishing. They condemned Israeli aggression against Palestine which, in my opinion, was entirely legitimate and recognised Palestine as a country, which I believe should never have happened, not to mention other very serious issues.

Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz said: “The legal classification of the US mission is complex. We’ll take our time with that.” In principle, the principles of international law must apply in dealings between states. “Now there must be no political instability in Venezuela. It is important to ensure an orderly transition to a government legitimised by elections.” Merz went on to say that Nicolás Maduro had led his country to ruin. “The last election was rigged. Like many other countries in the world, we have therefore not recognised the presidency,” said the Chancellor. Maduro played a problematic role in the region, with unfortunate alliances worldwide and through Venezuela’s involvement in the drug trade.”

Italy’s Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, considered a sympathiser of US President Donald Trump, said that “external military action” was not the right way to “end totalitarian regimes.”

At the same time, she stressed that her government considers “intervention of a defensive nature” against hybrid attacks on its own security to be legitimate for example, when state actions promote or facilitate drug trafficking in another country.

Spain’s Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, wrote on X that his country had not recognised the Maduro regime, nor would Spain recognise an intervention “that violates international law and drives the region into a time of insecurity and danger of war.” Sánchez called on all parties to consider the civilian population, respect the United Nations Charter, and work towards a just and negotiated transition.

France’s President, Emmanuel Macron, demanded that opposition politician Edmundo González Urrutia should now take responsibility in Venezuela. “The upcoming transition must be peaceful, democratic, and respectful of the will of the Venezuelan people,” Macron said. He stressed that the Venezuelan people could rejoice at having been liberated from Maduro’s dictatorship. He had seriously violated the dignity of his own people, Macron wrote on Platform X. US President Donald Trump shared Macron’s statement on his own platform,

Truth Social.

And what has happened in the United Kingdom?

The UK Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, said he needed more time to assess the situation. “I would like to clarify the facts first. I want to talk to President Trump. I want to talk to allies,” said the head of government. However, he assured that United Kingdom was not involved in the operation. He is “convinced that we should all comply with international law.”

I was stunned by the reaction of the UK Prime Minister, as his previous role was Director of Public Prosecutions specialising in human rights law; therefore, he should have been the first to clarify, clearly and straightforwardly, the illegitimacy of what Trump has done.

Foreign Minister Marco Rubio said at a press conference that “the operation against Maduro was a warning to others in the world that America was to be taken seriously.”

Make no mistake: both China and Russia now have a “green light” for example, for China’s invasion of Taiwan, while Russia can go further with Ukraine, not to mention that the next stage of the US military could be concentrated on the invasion of Greenland, perhaps even Canada, as Trump is adamant that both belong as part of the United States. The same as he claims that the oil in Venezuela is American and not Venezuelan.

I wonder whether Trump will claim that the oil in Saudi Arabia also belongs to the US. Nothing has changed since the US, along with the UK, attacked Libya and Iraq in the past, despite there being no weapons of mass destruction.

Donald Trump, you are a danger, mad and very sick man!