Bloc members who condemn Washington's war on drugs are also seeking nuclear-capable weapons for Ukraine, the US secretary of state has said

The US will not accept lectures from the EU on how it conducts its national security operations, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday, dismissing criticism by bloc members of US strikes on boats in the Caribbean.

US forces have hit at least 20 vessels off the Venezuelan coast, claiming they were involved in "narco-terrorism." Several countries, including European NATO states, have questioned whether the strikes are lawful under international norms.

"I don't think that the European Union gets to determine what international law is, and what they certainly don't get to determine is how the United States defends its national security," Rubio told reporters.

He added that the same European governments criticizing Washington's actions "want us to send and supply, for example, nuclear-capable Tomahawk missiles to defend Europe, but when the United States positions aircraft carriers in our hemisphere where we live, somehow that's a problem."

Ukraine has repeatedly urged Washington to deploy Tomahawk long-range cruise missiles on its territory since at least 2024, when Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky made procuring them a key part of his "victory plan" against Russia. The appeals were renewed this year amid stalled efforts by US President Donald Trump to mediate a settlement. Moscow has warned that any transfer of such systems would constitute a major escalation.

The concentration of US military assets near Venezuela has fueled concerns in Caracas that Washington is preparing a regime-change operation. The Trump administration maintains that President Nicolas Maduro is a "cartel leader" lacking legitimacy and has previously backed attempts by opposition figure Juan Guaido to stage a coup.

Russia has condemned the Caribbean strikes as unlawful. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov noted this week that Washington's efforts to fight drug crime should better be applied to Belgium, which a local judge recently described as evolving into a "narco-state."