“I don’t like what he did, but we should do it too.”

That seems to be the reaction in Russia to Trump‘s seizing Maduro and “running“ Venezuela.

The Kremlin, the Foreign Ministry, state media… they’re all criticizing Trump‘s actions as illegal.

In the same breath, they seem to be jealous of the fact that he took action that Putin would like to take against his perceived enemies, or leaders who stand in his way.

Leaders like Zelenskyy. Putin accuses Zelensky of being illegitimate, just as Trump says Maduro is illegitimate. He’s been trying to remove Zelensky for almost 4 years, with no success. That, of course, has created a lot of angst.

Now, Trump has done what Putin is aching to do. But Russia does not have anywhere near the ability of the United States to carry out his wishes.

Putin also may fear what the unpredictable American president may do next. This complicates Putin’s strategy.

He still has his nuclear weapons so he can rattle his nuclear sabre. He can also use hybrid tactics to try out a few limited actions to see what Trump does. If Trump doesn’t respond, Putin will go further.

After all, Trump, in his National Security Strategy, says the US should control the Western Hemisphere. Does this mean Russia should control its neighborhood?