President Donald Trump has said elections in Venezuela will take place at some point, while giving no date for a vote in the country where the United States captured and deposed its leader earlier this year.

Mr Trump made the remark to reporters on Monday, according to Reuters. He did not say when Venezuelans would go to the polls, or what conditions would have to be met first.

The comment is the latest in a series of statements from the US president about Venezuela's political future since US forces seized then-President Nicolas Maduro in a military operation in January and brought him to the United States to face drug-trafficking charges. Mr Maduro has pleaded not guilty, and his trial is set for 1 June 2027.

No date set for a vote

Venezuela has been run since then by an interim government led by acting President Delcy Rodriguez, who had been Mr Maduro's vice president. No election date has been announced, and the timetable remains the subject of talks between the interim authorities, opposition figures and the United States.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said elections would ideally be held in 2027, but only after a series of institutional reforms. A blueprint agreed between Venezuelan authorities and opposition figures aims for free and fair elections at some point in 2027, after the renewal of the Supreme Court and the National Electoral Council.

Under the reported plan, Ms Rodriguez would then declare the presidency vacant, starting a six-month constitutional deadline for a vote. US officials have said they want the process completed while Mr Trump remains in office, although no firm schedule has been published.

Opposition leader back in Venezuela

Mr Rubio said last month that the Trump administration had told Venezuela's interim authorities weeks earlier that opposition leader Maria Corina Machado should be allowed to return as the country prepares for elections. Ms Machado returned to Venezuela on 25 October, her first appearance in the country since Mr Maduro was deposed.

Mr Rubio met Venezuela's foreign minister, Oliver Blanco, in Washington last week, pressing Caracas on the release of remaining political prisoners and on progress in the reconciliation talks. The rights group Foro Penal counted 322 political prisoners in Venezuela as of 5 October.

Mr Trump has repeatedly said Venezuela is not yet ready to vote. In September he told reporters in the Oval Office that he did not think the country was ready, while adding that both Washington and Caracas wanted elections. In January, shortly after Mr Maduro's capture, he told NBC News that Venezuela had to be fixed first, saying: "We have to fix the country first. You can't have an election."

For now, the message from the White House is unchanged in substance: elections are promised, but no date has been set, and Washington is insisting that the country's courts and electoral bodies be rebuilt before Venezuelans are asked to vote.