UN/GENEVA/JOHANNESBURG/ANKARA/TEHERAN/WASHINGTON/CARACAS - US President Donald Trump said on Monday that Venezuela will not hold elections in the next 30 days.

"We have to fix the country first. You can't have an election. There's no way the people could even vote," Trump said in an interview with NBC News.

The remarks came two days after Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was taken from the capital of Caracas by US forces.

Trump identified a number of his team members, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and Vice-President JD Vance, who will help oversee US intervention in Venezuela.

Trump added that his administration may subsidize efforts by US oil companies to invest in and rebuild Venezuela's energy infrastructure, noting that the process could be completed in less than 18 months.

"I think we can do it in less time than that, but it'll be a lot of money," Trump said. "A tremendous amount of money will have to be spent and the oil companies will spend it, and then they'll get reimbursed by us or through revenue."

Trump denied that the United States is at war with Venezuela. "We're at war with people that sell drugs. We're at war with people that empty their prisons into our country and empty their drug addicts and empty their mental institutions into our country," he said.

Earlier on Monday, Maduro, who was arraigned in New York on charges including narco-terrorism conspiracy and conspiracy to import cocaine, pleaded not guilty, saying he remains the leader of his country even as Vice-President Delcy Rodriguez was sworn in as acting president.

Trump said Rodriguez has been cooperating with US officials.

Trump said on Sunday night that the United States is "in charge" of Venezuela, and that in the short term, he needs Rodriguez to provide the United States with "total access," especially access to Venezuela's oil.

Meanwhile, Rodriguez demanded the "immediate release" of Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores during a session of the National Defense Council broadcast by state television channel VTV, calling Maduro "the only president of Venezuela" while describing the US action in her country as "a savage attack."

The international community has been deeply shocked by the Trump administration's raid on Maduro. Multiple countries, including China, Russia and Brazil, have issued statements strongly condemning the United States' blatant use of force against a sovereign state and actions against its president, which are widely believed to have violated international law.  

Shots fired near Venezuelan presidential palace

Gunfire was heard near Venezuela's presidential palace, media reports said on Monday. 

Venezuelan government buildings were evacuated amid the incident.

The situation was under control, according to a source close to the government.

The source added that unidentified drones flew over the presidential palace in central Caracas, prompting security forces to open fire in response. 

Maduro pleads not guilty in US court

Maduro on Monday pleaded not guilty to all US charges during his first court appearance in New York.

"I am innocent, I am not guilty," Maduro told the court, adding that he was "kidnapped" at his home in Caracas and that he remains the president of Venezuela, according to media inside the courtroom.

Maduro's wife, Cilia Flores, said at court that she is completely innocent of the charges brought against her by the United States.

The next hearing on the case against Maduro is scheduled for March 17.

Protesters gathering outside the court were shouting slogans and holding banners of "Free Maduro," "No War on Venezuela," and "USA hands off Venezuela."

"The charges are completely outrageous," Sydney Loving, one of the protesters told Xinhua. "We're against any intervention like that on a sovereign nation."

"To kidnap a president of another country is absolutely crossing red line. It definitely violates international law," she said.

In the early hours of Saturday, US military forces carried out attacks and bombings in Caracas and other parts of Venezuela and took Maduro and his wife by force, before putting them in custody in New York.

The US attacks have shocked the international community, triggering a steady stream of condemnation and serious concerns worldwide.

On Saturday, people took to the streets across more than 100 US cities, including Washington, Boston, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago and Miami, protesting against the US military operation on the oil-rich South American nation, demanding the US government to free Maduro. 

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Venezuela urges UN action

Venezuelan UN ambassador Samuel Moncada on Monday requested action from the Security Council following US strikes against his country over the weekend.

Venezuela urges the Security Council to fully assume its responsibility and act in accordance with the mandate conferred on it by the UN Charter, Moncada told an emergency meeting of the council.

"In that regard, we request that the government of the United States of America be demanded to fully respect the immunities of (Venezuelan) President Nicolas Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores, as well as their immediate release and safe return to Venezuela," said the ambassador.

Moncada demanded that the use of force against Venezuela be clearly and unequivocally condemned by the Security Council, and that the principle of non-acquisition of territory or resources by force be reaffirmed.

He also called for measures aimed at de-escalation, the protection of the civilian population, and the restoration of international law.

The US move also seriously violates the Geneva Conventions and Protocols, the ambassador said.

Assets of Maduro

The Swiss Federal Council announced in a statement on Monday that it has frozen all assets held in Switzerland by Maduro.

The statement said that, in accordance with the relevant federal act, the Federal Council has decided to freeze all assets held in Switzerland by Maduro and other persons associated with him.

The statement noted that the freeze takes effect immediately and will remain valid for four years until further notice.

Guterres voices deep concern

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday voiced deep concern over the lack of respect for international law in the US military action against Venezuela on Saturday.

"I remain deeply concerned that rules of international law have not been respected with regard to the Jan. 3 military action," said Guterres in a statement to the Security Council, read on his behalf by Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo.

The UN Charter enshrines the prohibition of the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, the UN chief added.

"The maintenance of international peace and security depends on the continued commitment of all (UN) member states to adhere to all the provisions of the charter," said Guterres.

UNGA president stresses respect for UN Charter

Respect for the UN Charter and international law is the foundation of the international order, President of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) Annalena Baerbock said in a statement on the situation regarding Venezuela.

In the statement sent to reporters on Monday, the UNGA president stressed: "The UN Charter is not optional -- it is our guiding framework, in moments of calm and in times of crisis, like in Venezuela today, culminating with the United States military action."

The statement noted that Article 2 of the UN Charter clearly stipulates that all members of the United Nations shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations.

The statement added that "a peaceful, safe and just world for everyone is only possible if the rule of law prevails instead of might makes right."

Condemnation continues

Russian UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said Monday that his country condemns the US military action against Venezuela over the weekend.

"We firmly condemn the act of armed aggression by the United States against Venezuela in breach of all norms of international law," Nebenzia told an emergency meeting of the Security Council following the US assault on Venezuela.

He called on the US leadership to immediately release Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, both currently being held in New York.

Nebenzia said Russia is particularly appalled by the unprecedented cynicism on the part of Washington, which does not even attempt to conceal the true objectives of its criminal operation, namely the establishment of unlimited control over Venezuela's natural resources and assertion of its hegemonic ambitions in Latin America.

South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola on Monday criticized the recent military action by the United States against Venezuela, saying it violates the Charter of United Nations, international law as well as Venezuela's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Lamola made the remarks ahead of a UN Security Council meeting, noting that international solidarity and collective action have brought stability to the world.

"We cannot return to the period after the First World War, when there were no rules and no world order based on international law," Lamola said, stressing South Africa's commitment to a principle-based approach both domestically and internationally.

South Africa has called on the UN Security Council to urgently convene to address the situation in a statement issued last Saturday, stressing that the UN Charter does not authorize external military intervention in matters that fall essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of a sovereign state.

Colombia categorically condemns the US military action against Venezuela, Colombia's permanent representative to the United Nations Leonor Zalabata told the UN Security Council on Monday.

"Colombia condemns categorically the events that occurred in the early morning of the 3rd of January in Venezuela, where we saw multiple explosions and air activity over Caracas and other areas of the country as part of the military attack carried out by the United States ... All of this represents clear violations of the sovereignty, political independence and the territorial integrity of Venezuela," she said at a Security Council emergency meeting on Venezuela.

ALSO READ: China condemns US military action against Venezuela at UN Security Council

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday that he has told U.S. President Donald Trump that "Venezuela should not be dragged into instability."

"We do not condone any action that violates political legitimacy and international law, anywhere in the world," Erdogan said at a press conference after a cabinet meeting.

He stressed that "breaching countries' sovereign rights and international law are risky steps that could lead to serious global complications."

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday that the United States must release Maduro, condemning Washington's "unlawful" actions against Venezuela's sovereignty.

Speaking at a weekly news conference in Teheran, Baghaei accused the United States of abducting Maduro and his wife following a US military operation in Venezuela, calling the move a violation of international law.

"The abduction of a country's president and his wife is not something to take pride in," Baghaei said. "This is a completely unlawful action, and as stressed by Venezuela's officials and people, their president must be released."

He urged United Nations member states to respond to flagrant violations of international law, warning that such behaviour would not stop there.