Boris Johnson's secret Venezuela trip: Talks with Maduro on Ukraine and UK ties

Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, as determined by "The Sunday Times", secretly flew to Venezuela. There, he met with its autocratic leader, Nicolas Maduro. The topics of conversation were to include the war in Ukraine among other things.

As reported by the British newspaper, Johnson flew to Venezuela on a private jet during a holiday in the Dominican Republic and spent less than 24 hours in the country governed by Maduro. He was to discuss with him the war in Ukraine, which is related to the concerns of Western countries that Venezuela could provide Russia, being its close ally, with weapons or other military support.

Johnson also discussed the terms for normalizing relations with the United Kingdom, which does not recognize the legality of Maduro’s administration. Sources cited by "The Sunday Times" state that these include holding free and fair presidential elections this year and de-escalating tensions with Guyana, a former British colony, whose oil and mineral-rich Essequibo region, constituting two-thirds of its territory, is a subject of Venezuelan claims. Last month, the British navy dispatched a patrol ship to the region, which Maduro described as an "act of hostile provocation".

"The Sunday Times" notes that the fact that such conversations took place is very unusual, considering the state of bilateral relations and the broader uncertainty about the West's relations with Venezuela, which has the world’s largest oil reserves and steadfastly supports Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Johnson’s office conveyed that Foreign Secretary David Cameron was aware of this visit and that Johnson spoke with Colin Dick, the British chargé d'affaires in Caracas, to consult on what matters to bring up in the conversation with Maduro. A source in the Foreign Office revealed that Johnson notified Cameron of the visit via SMS while on the way, but since these were not official talks, permission for them was not required.

Johnson did not respond to questions about who initiated the talks and why, but his spokesperson emphasized that the plane journey was financed with private funds and neither the British nor Venezuelan government participated in the costs. As "The Sunday Times" writes, people close to the former Prime Minister claim he still considers Maduro a human rights-violating dictator, and the conversation was "one-sided", meaning Johnson conveyed British expectations.

The newspaper adds that the genesis of the meeting with Maduro was likely Johnson's current lobbying for support for Ukraine, and this role seems to find increasing backing from the current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. For Sunak, Johnson’s foreign engagement is beneficial as it limits the former Prime Minister’s domestic political activities.

A few days after returning from the Dominican Republic, Johnson went to Kyiv to meet with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the second anniversary of the Russian invasion. He recently urged Donald Trump not to abandon Ukraine if he is re-elected President of the USA, and also lobbied for Ukraine among leaders of African and South American countries.