United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday warned of the risk of heightened instability in Venezuela following the US capture of President Nicolas Maduro, as Washington told the Security Council it had no plans to occupy the country, Reuters reported. 

The 15-member council met at UN headquarters in New York just hours before Maduro was due to appear in a Manhattan federal court to face drug-related charges, including narco-terrorism conspiracy. Maduro has denied any criminal wrongdoing.

“I am deeply concerned about the possible intensification of instability in the country, the potential impact on the region, and the precedent it may set for how relations between and among states are conducted,” Reuters quoted Guterres as saying in a statement delivered to the council by UN political affairs chief Rosemary DiCarlo, according to Reuters.