Lukashenko Issues Stark Warning to U.S., Predicts “Second Vietnam” if Ground Strikes Hit Venezuela
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has issued a chilling warning to the United States, cautioning that any military incursion into Venezuela could spiral into a catastrophic quagmire reminiscent of the Vietnam War. The stark message comes amid escalating threats from President Donald Trump, who recently announced plans for imminent ground strikes against drug cartel operations inside Venezuelan territory.
According to Valentin Rybakov, Belarus’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Lukashenko delivered this warning directly to a U.S. delegation during high-level talks. Speaking on Belarus’s state television channel Pervyi informatsionny, and quoting Interfax, Rybakov emphasized the gravity of Lukashenko’s message.
“The Belarusian president spoke very frankly with the American side,” Rybakov said. “He warned that dragging America into such a war would simply mean a repeat of the Vietnam War, which serves no one’s interest, not the American people, not the Venezuelan people, and certainly not the global community.”
The warning arrives as tensions mount in the Caribbean. Trump, in a fiery declaration just days ago, claimed the U.S. has already neutralized 96% of maritime drug trafficking routes and is now turning its focus inland. “Now we start with drought, on land it is much easier,” he said, referring to a shift toward overland interdiction. “Soon this will start happening. It’s going to be ground strikes—not just on Venezuela, but on the bad guys who import drugs and kill our people.”
U.S. military assets have already begun amassing in the southern Caribbean, with naval forces positioned off Venezuela’s coast as part of a broader campaign aimed at pressuring President Nicolás Maduro’s government. The buildup coincides with Trump’s renewed political rhetoric, vowing to dismantle transnational cartels and remove what he calls a “rogue regime” sheltering them.
But Lukashenko’s intervention injects a new layer of geopolitical uncertainty. His comparison to Vietnam—a conflict that cost the U.S. over 58,000 lives and sparked widespread domestic unrest—carries unmistakable weight. Whether Washington heeds the warning or presses forward with its plan remains unclear, but the world is now watching a volatile standoff that could ignite far beyond Venezuela’s borders.
