Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister Darren Jones declined to say whether he thought the US strikes on Caracas had been legal, insisting it was for “international courts” to judge what fell within the law.
The UK, which has a historically deep intelligence-sharing relationship with the US, was not informed of the attack before it was carried out overnight in Saturday.
“The first thing to say is it was an American operation. The United Kingdom was not involved in any way,” Mr Jones told Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme.
“We were not informed of it beforehand. So it’s not for us to judge whether it’s been a success or not. That’s for the Americans to speak to.”
The Cabinet Office minister and close ally of Sir Keir Starmer added: “I think the important thing now, given the events that have unfolded over the last 48 hours, is that we are quickly able to get to a point where we can get to a peaceful transition to a president in Venezuela that has the support of the people of Venezuela.”
Speaking to reporters on Saturday, the US president said Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, had been flown out of Caracas and indicted on “narco-terrorism” charges following the attack.
America will “run” the country until “a safe, proper and judicious transition” transfer of power can take place, Mr Trump claimed.
He also revealed his plans to exploit the leadership vacuum to “fix” the nation’s oil infrastructure, and sell “large amounts” of the fuel to other nations.
The action, which has been described as the most assertive US intervention to achieve regime change since the 2003 Iraq invasion, followed months of pressure from Washington on the country and its autocratic leader.
Mr Maduro has now landed in New York while Mr Trump claimed the American presence in Venezuela was already in place, though there were no immediate signs that the US was running the country, according to the Associated Press.
Mr Jones said the UK Government was “not entirely clear” on what Mr Trump meant when he said America would run the nation, but insisted it was not for a “third country” to decide on its future government.
“It’s for the Americans now and for Venezuela to set out what happens in the coming days,” he said.
Sir Keir has resisted calls from within his own party, as well as some opposition critics, to take a tougher stance on the US president, arguing that maintaining a close relationship with America is critical for security and defence.
Asked whether he would condemn the military action on Saturday, he said he wanted to wait to “establish the facts” and speak to Mr Trump, and later insisted the UK will “shed no tears” over the end of Mr Maduro’s regime.
In an interview with the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme, the Prime Minister conceded there were “differences of views on various things” between him and the US leader – without naming specific issues.
“We do have differences of views on various things, but on the other hand, I constantly remind myself that 24/7 our defence, our security and our intelligence relationship with the US matters probably more than any other relationship we’ve got in the world, and it would not be in our national interest to weaken that in any way,” he said.
“Of course, it doesn’t mean I agree with President Trump on everything he says and does, any more than he would agree with everything that I say or do, and we openly accept that that’s the nature of the relationship we have.
“But we have made the relationship work. We do get along with each other and have the ability to spend time, one-to-one discussion, with world issues, and that is to the benefit the UK.”
