Name: Worries that Venezuela crisis could shift U.S. focus away from Ukraine
Uploaded: 2026-01-06T14:24:22.945Z
Duration: 5 min 23 s
Description: Ukraine’s allies are meeting on January 6 in Paris for key talks that could help determine the country’s security after a potential ceasefire with Russia. But there are concerns that the Trump administration is shifting its focus to Venezuela, away from Ukraine.

Ukraine’s allies are meeting on January 6 in Paris for key talks that could help determine the country’s security after a potential ceasefire with Russia. But there are concerns that the Trump administration is shifting its focus to Venezuela, away from Ukraine.

Kyiv

Diplomatic negotiations to secure a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia continue, with key obstacles including territorial control and long-term security guarantees for Ukraine. Ukrainian officials insist on robust assurances to deter future Russian aggression and are seeking greater international military support, particularly from European nations.

Recent upheaval in Venezuela, including the ousting of Nicolas Maduro, has prompted concerns that US focus and resources may be redirected away from Ukraine. Analysts warn that US actions in Venezuela could set a precedent for disregarding international law, potentially emboldening Russia or China in their respective regions and raising questions about the stability of global order.

Worries that Venezuela crisis could shift U.S. focus away from Ukraine

For more on this story, I'm joined on set now by Rochelle Ferguson-Buyahi from our International Affairs desk. Hi, Rochelle. Hi, Carys. Rochelle, walk us through again the sticking points in all of this, trying to get a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia. Well, as you heard in that report there, Carys, there has been a kind of flurry of diplomatic activity, whether that's been in Florida and Kiev or today right here in the French capital. There are a number of sticking points, though, about how European leaders help Ukraine ultimately decide on a finalised deal. Kiev has been saying that this is 90% ready. But those obstacles during this coalition of the willing, let's start with territory. Again, it's not new. We've seen deals go back and forth. Russia currently occupying around 20% of Ukraine's territory. They're pushing for full control of the Donbass region, but of course Ukraine is saying if we cede now, if we give away more territory now, what happens if Russia plans a future aggression? How do we protect ourselves from that? So Kiev's saying that this is, you know, no way will we sign a peace deal that fails to deter ultimately Russia from invading again. Let's talk a little bit about guarantees as well, if we stay in that vein. Now what Vladimir Zelensky is asking for is long-term guarantees, guarantees that he said mirror something of the mutual cooperation agreements that are signed under NATO and its members. So something that looks like, you know, these extended security assurances. When it comes to what Ukraine are asking for from the US, they want, again, not just 15 years of security, which is reportedly being proposed by the United States for Ukraine currently. They want decades long. And again, this question of how to deter Russia from a future invasion once, of course, the invasion is, the current invasion that's been going on nearly four years is halted. How do they stop that from happening again? Just a final thought on this, there's, of course, once a deal is reached, once the invasion is stopped, how do they monitor this ceasefire? What kind of support is going to be given to Ukrainian troops on the ground? Who's going to help Ukraine to ensure that things don't start again? And of course, this key question of a multinational European force on the ground, Zelensky saying this weekend, look, if European countries are not prepared to deploy these troops, today in Paris is not really a coalition of the willing. We're far from that if people don't want to kind of give us troops to help us. So a lot to be fleshed out today, Karis. And of course, those obstacles, we've seen them before, but they are still very much on the table to be discussed. All right, well, let's zoom out a little bit and look at the bigger picture. Can we imagine that all the upheaval that's happening in Venezuela will have an impact on any of this? Yeah, I mean, I think it's fair to say, Karis, that the impact from what happened in Venezuela is likely to be felt in a country like Ukraine far more than it will be felt, or far more quickly, I should say, than in Latin America. Of course, Steve Witkoff is here amongst those key leaders today representing Donald Trump. Before what happened in Venezuela took place, this ousting of Nicolas Maduro, Witkoff was very positive about reassurances for Ukraine. Of course, this is taking key attention away from Ukraine, and not just key attention, but if you look at budget, let me just give you a figure which I think is interesting. $130 million is what the U.S. has given Ukraine in the last few years since January 2022. You can imagine that if the U.S. becomes more interested in what's going on in Venezuela, some of that money is no longer going to be going to Ukraine, but more so to Venezuela. So you have the budgetary concerns, you have the lack of attention at a time when Ukraine desperately needs for the U.S. to be giving them a helping hand, but let's think broader. You used the word there. Let's think about the message that this sends, the message that the U.S. has, some might say, trampled international frameworks here, international law. Does that send a message to Russia that it's okay to ultimately continue to go further in its invasion of Ukraine? Just a point there, Donald Trump has gone into Venezuela saying that Venezuela is essentially a narco-terrorist state. That's the reason for which Maduro has been brought down, because they're exporting vast quantities of opiates into the U.S. Russia, think back to 2014, had falsely claimed that Russian speakers within the country were being oppressed. You've got these justifications, and it's not certain with Donald Trump and the U.S. government's actions in Venezuela, whether Russia or indeed China, when it comes to Taiwan, may take this precedence of a signal that we too can overstep international law. So I think there are a lot of parallels to be drawn there. Just a final thought on this, let's think back to December 2025, the National Security Strategy by Washington. They spoke about concentrating power within regional spheres, so Venezuela falls very much within America's regional sphere. But if you're looking at regional spheres, does that mean a bigger backyard for Russia, for example, when it comes to Europe, or does that mean a bigger backyard for China when it comes to Asia? So this raises a lot of questions, anarchy, some analysts have called it, in terms of international law and the parameters that have been flouted here.

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