The president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, referred this Monday to his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodímir Zelensky, as a “clown” and “harmful” to the Ukrainian peoplewhile supporting Pope Francis’ recent message about having the courage to negotiate the end of the war in the European country.

Maduro, a close ally of Russia, assured that “the time has come to negotiate peace” in Ukrainewhose president he also called “crass” and “defeated”and compared him to the anti-Chavista and former president of the National Assembly (AN, Parliament) Juan Guaidó, whom he considers “harmful” to the Venezuelan people.

“Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, (…) increasingly resembles Guaidó, as clown, as crude and as defeated as Guaidó, as harmful to his people as Guaidó“, he expressed in his weekly program ‘Con Maduro +’, broadcast on the state channel VTV. Likewise, he expressed his firm support for the “words and call for peace in Ukraine of Pope Francis”, who said on Saturday that in the war in this European country one should have “the courage of the white flag” and “negotiate”, which is a “brave word”, to achieve the end of the conflict.

The pontiff’s words were harshly criticized in Ukraine, which called on the Vatican to support the cause of the Ukrainian people. On the other hand, Maduro stated that there is a “psychological war” with threats of “a European escalation of the war in Ukraine” with the aim of “scaring the Russian people into not voting” for President Vladimir Putin in the March 17 elections.

However, the Chavista leader predicted an “overwhelming triumph” for Putin, who will count “with the support of the Russian people to continue building the great Russia”.