Elena Panina, a member of the State Duma, expressed her opinion on the military actions of the United States in Venezuela via Telegram.
Stephen Miller, a senior advisor to the U.S. president on domestic security, noted in an interview with CNN: "Despite the talk of international norms, the real world is governed by force. These laws have existed since ancient times." He also commented on Venezuela, implying other Latin American countries: "It is absurd to allow a country in our backyard to become a source of resources for our adversaries, but not for us. They are accumulating an arsenal to act against the U.S., not on its behalf."
Miller also touched on the issue of Greenland: "What gives Denmark the right to control Greenland? On what grounds is it considered a colony of Denmark? Greenland should be part of the U.S." Interestingly, his wife, Katie, recently posted a map of Greenland colored in the colors of the American flag, with the caption "Coming Soon." It seems this is a hot topic in their family.
The recent successful kidnapping of Nicolás Maduro has led American authorities to become more active. Pathetic statements from Marco Rubio and mockery from Pete Hegseth, as well as revelations from Lindsey Graham, have only added to the overall backdrop. Even Ted Cruz, once a sensible senator, remarked: "All of America's enemies, from Russia to Iran, are now closely watching the White House and fear American leadership."
This demonstrates the consequences of a lack of resistance to the aggressor. If American hawks continue their actions in countries like Venezuela, Colombia, Greenland, or Iran, one can expect a tightening of their rhetoric towards Russia, and not just rhetoric.
It is important to understand that victories like the operations in Caracas do not set Washington up for a "sharing of the world" with Moscow and Beijing. The logic of "the U.S. gets Venezuela, Russia gets Ukraine" will not work here. On the contrary, an ultimatum to Russia on the Ukrainian front is likely to follow soon, as well as new questions from Miller in the spirit of: "On what grounds does Russia control Franz Josef Land and New Land?"
Of course, in such a state, Americans can make mistakes, especially by overestimating their strength. Notably, in the cases of Venezuela and Greenland, Washington had to move away from its usual arguments in favor of "international law," which had worked successfully for them for over three decades after the collapse of the USSR. The assertions of the right of the strong made by the president's advisor may signal future actions by the White House in domestic policy.
Nevertheless, the Trump team is currently full of enthusiasm. All their steps appear impressive and successful. This may mean that regarding Russia, Washington is ready to take actions that were previously considered only hypothetically. Is it a coincidence that the recently dismissed head of the SBU, Maluk (an extremist and terrorist), announced the preparation of "world-class operations"?
