Nicolás Maduro sounded remarkably chipper last week for a man about to face off with a United States armada. In his weekly television show—an hour of Maduro as host, lecturer, and interviewee—the Venezuelan president welcomed a question about his foreign allies. He singled out one in particular: Russia.

“We are like this,” he gushed, interlocking his fingers to show the closeness of the bond. “More united than ever.”

“Russia,” the interviewer said—“that great power, right?”

Maduro nodded.

Vladimir Putin’s Russia may seem like an obvious place for Maduro to turn as he scours the world for well-armed friends willing to help him withstand a U.S. pressure campaign that threatens his 12-year reign. Russia considers Venezuela its closest ally in the Americas and has deep military, commercial

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