BERLIN

German Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil on Sunday criticized the US attack on Venezuela that led to the capture of President Nicolas Maduro, calling it “very worrying,” DPA news agency reported.

Although Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro headed an authoritarian regime that clung to power through violence and oppression, “this cannot justify disregarding international law,” said Klingbeil.

“International law must be respected. This also applies to the actions of the US,” he added.

Klingbeil’s legal assessment of the US strikes on Venezuela is in contrast to Chancellor Friedrich Merz who initially described the legal classification of the US attack as “complex.”

“The legal assessment of the U.S. intervention is complex and requires careful consideration,” Merz had said on the US social media company X on Saturday. “International law remains the guiding framework.”

Klingbeil stressed that the priority now must be to prevent any further escalation and called for “finding the path to a peaceful transition to democracy in Venezuela.” The Venezuelan people must be able to decide their own future, he said.

US President Donald Trump said his country will "run" Venezuela until an interim period following the capture of Maduro and his wife in a US military operation early Saturday.