What military actions is the U.S. taking against Venezuela?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. President Trump says the U.S. military has targeted a dock in Venezuela where he claims drugs were being loaded onto boats. NPR's Deepa Shivaram reports the strike marks an escalation in the administration's pressure campaign against the Venezuelan government.
President Trump was about to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he confirmed to reporters that the U.S. had, quote, hit a Venezuelan dock.
There was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs. They load the boats up with drugs. So we hit all the boats.
Trump did not provide further detail, but such a strike likely indicates an escalation in aggression toward Venezuela. In recent weeks, Trump announced a blockade on sanctioned oil tankers coming in and out of Venezuela. And the U.S. has struck multiple boats off the coast of the South American country, alleging that they're carrying drugs. More than 100 people have been killed in those attacks.
Deepa Shivaram, NPR News. Russia is threatening to take a tougher stance in peace talks aimed at ending its war in Ukraine. The Kremlin is accusing Kyiv of launching a drone attack on one of President Vladimir Putin's residences. NPR's Joanna Kikis reports Ukraine says the claim is fabricated and a move to justify more fighting.
Russia's longtime foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, brought it up yesterday in an interview with Interfax, Russia's state-owned news agency. And he claimed without evidence that Ukraine had launched 91 drones at a Putin residence in Novgorod in the northwest. and that Russia's air defense had shot down these drones.
Now, we should say Lavrov is not trusted by Western leaders, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky immediately denied Lavrov's charge and said Russia was inventing this incident to undermine peace talks and expand attacks on Ukraine.
That's NPR's Joanna Kikisis reporting from Kyiv. A powerful winter storm is making its way across parts of the upper Midwest and is pushing east, just as millions of people prepare to hit the road for the New Year holiday. NPR's Dan Ronan reports forecasters are warning of dangerous travel conditions.
The big winter storm, classified as a bomb cyclone, started in the upper Midwest with more than a foot of snow and high winds in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and it's heading east with high winds and frigid temperatures. Christian Schultz and her husband drove to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport from northern Wisconsin so they could fly home to Alaska.
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