Diplomats and foreign representatives gather for a Security Council meeting at the United Nations (UN) concerning the situation in Venezuela on January 05, 2026 in New York City. Photo: VCG

The US forcible seizing of Venezuela's leader has faced strong criticism from both America's partners and other countries at an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Monday, according to media reports.

At the UN Security Council emergency meeting, President of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) Annalena Baerbock stressed respect for the UN Charter and international law, and envoys from multiple countries including China, Russia and Columbia voiced their condemnation and concern of the US military action against Venezuela.

Among US allies, France was by far the most outspoken at the meeting, BBC reported. The deputy ambassador, Jay Dharmadhikari, said Maduro's taking by the US runs "counter to the principle of peaceful dispute resolution and runs counter to the principle of the non-use of force".

The deputy UN ambassador for Denmark, Sandra Jensen Landi, voiced her country's "deep concern" at the evolving situation and said: "These developments constitute a dangerous precedent. International law and the UN Charter… must be respected."

According to Xinhua, at the UN Security Council emergency meeting, President of UNGA Annalena Baerbock said in a statement, "The UN Charter is not optional - it is our guiding framework, in moments of calm and in times of crisis, like in Venezuela today, culminating with the United States military action."

The statement noted that Article 2 of the UN Charter clearly stipulates that all members of the United Nations shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations.

Venezuelan UN ambassador Samuel Moncada told the emergency meeting that Venezuela urges the Security Council to fully assume its responsibility and act in accordance with the mandate conferred on it by the UN Charter, Xinhua reported.

Venezuelan and US UN ambassadors Composite Photo: VCG

"In that regard, we request that the government of the United States of America be demanded to fully respect the immunities of (Venezuelan) President Nicolas Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores, as well as their immediate release and safe return to Venezuela," said Moncada.
    
Russian UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said "We firmly condemn the act of armed aggression by the United States against Venezuela in breach of all norms of international law," Xinhua reported.
 
He called on the US leadership to immediately release Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, both currently being held in New York.

Colombia's permanent representative to the United Nations Leonor Zalabata told the UN Security Council that "Colombia condemns categorically the events that occurred in the early morning of the 3rd of January in Venezuela, where we saw multiple explosions and air activity over Caracas and other areas of the country as part of the military attack carried out by the United States ... All of this represents clear violations of the sovereignty, political independence and the territorial integrity of Venezuela," she said at a Security Council emergency meeting.

Despite the sweeping criticism from representatives of UN member countries at the emergency meeting, US ambassador Mike Waltz to the UN claimed the forcible seizing of Maduro was a "law-enforcement" operation against an illegitimate leader responsible for both drug trafficking and terrorism.

Waltz told the Council, "You cannot continue to have the largest energy reserves in the world under the control of adversaries of the US."

Sun Lei, the charge d'affaires of China's Permanent Mission to the United Nations, strongly condemned the U.S. military action against Venezuela at the UN Security Council emergency meeting.

For some time now, the international community has repeatedly expressed grave concerns over the US sanctions, blockade, and threats of force against Venezuela. However, as a permanent member of the Security Council, the United States has disregarded the grave concerns of the international community, wantonly trampled on Venezuela's sovereignty, security, and legitimate rights and interests, and seriously violated the principles of sovereign equality, non-interference in internal affairs, the peaceful settlement of international disputes, and the prohibition of the use of force in international relations, he said.

Also out of the UNGA meeting, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday at a press conference after a cabinet meeting that he has told US President Donald Trump that "Venezuela should not be dragged into instability." "We do not condone any action that violates political legitimacy and international law, anywhere in the world," Erdogan said at the press conference.

About 1,500 people demonstrated on Monday evening in front of the Simon Bolivar statue in the Portuguese capital to protest what they described as an illegal attack by the United States on Venezuela, according to Lusa News Agency on Monday.