Russia harshly condemns US seizure of oil tanker, warns of a spike in tensions
Russia strongly condemned the US on Thursday seizure of oil tankerIt heralds a new chill in relations between Moscow and Washington that could spread to other regions and affect President Donald Trump’s efforts to persuade Russia to end its nearly four-year deal. War in Ukraine.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that the seizure of the Russian-flagged tanker in the North Atlantic “could lead to a further escalation of military and political tensions in the Euro-Atlantic region and a noticeable reduction of the ‘threshold for the use of force’ against peaceful shipping.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has not yet commented on the seizure of the tanker and has remained silent about the US capture Its diplomats condemned the attack by Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro as a blatant act of aggression.
However, while Russia has avoided any criticism of President Trump, the seizure of the tanker by the US military poses a new challenge for the Kremlin.
Hawkish commentators in Moscow criticized the government for not reacting quickly and argued that Russia should have deployed its naval assets to protect the shadow fleet’s ships.
Ukraine’s Western allies have long vowed to tighten sanctions on the fleet of shadow tankers Russia uses to transport its oil to global customers, and many observers in Moscow have warned that the US action could set a precedent for other countries.
Aside from its tough rhetoric, Russia has few options when considering how to respond to the seizure, according to Daniel Fried, assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs during the administrations of Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
“Russians tend to scream and shout when they are embarrassed, and in this case they were embarrassed because Russia’s power is not what Vladimir Putin claims it is,” Fried said. “They couldn’t do anything about this ship.”
US European Command said the Bella 1 merchant ship was seized on Wednesday for “violating US sanctions”. When the US began tracking the tanker last month after it tried to free it from the blockade sanctioned oil vessels Renamed Marinera around Venezuela and marked for Russia.
The Trump administration has imposed an oil embargo on Venezuela, and the Department of Energy says the only oil entering and exiting Venezuela will be transported through approved channels consistent with U.S. laws and national security interests.
How does Russia view US military action?
The State Department said the US attempt to portray the seizure of the tanker as part of a broader effort to assert control over Venezuela’s oil wealth was a “totally cynical” reflection of “neo-colonialist ambitions”.
The ministry called it a “gross violation” of international maritime law and insisted the ship had a permit to sail under the Russian flag, which was issued in December. It was stated that the US threat to sue the crew under “ridiculous excuses” was “categorically unacceptable”.
It was stated that the sanctions imposed unilaterally by the USA and other Western countries were “illegitimate” and could not constitute a justification for seizing offshore ships.
“Washington’s desire to create acute international crisis situations, including in Russian-American relations, which are already extremely tense and burdened by disagreements in the past years, is a cause for regret and concern,” the ministry said. he said.
The White House declined to comment Thursday when asked about the State Department’s statement.
The seizure of the tanker sparked angry comments from Russian military bloggers; some of them accused the Kremlin of failing to mount a stronger response to the US intervention. Many criticized the military for failing to quickly dispatch a warship to escort the tanker.
Some have suggested deploying teams of military contractors on shadow fleet ships to prevent such takeovers in the future.
Alexander Kots, military correspondent of Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper, argued that the Kremlin’s failure to respond strongly to the seizure of the tanker could encourage the United States and other Western countries to seize more ships.
“When faced with a bully who feels too powerful, we should slap him in the face,” Kots wrote.
opposing view
Fried said Russia has little credibility in complaints about international law because of its invasion of Ukraine. He also noted that Russia’s claim to the ship is weak, as it was only given temporary permission to fly the Russian flag late last month.
“If you talk about it legally, it’s a complex issue. If you talk about it strategically, the Russians are extremely spread out and vulnerable,” said Fried, who serves at the Atlantic Council, a think tank in Washington. “They are holding on to a war in Ukraine that they cannot win…their economy is suffering.”
He said it was possible that Moscow could react to the tanker seizure by planning an attack on US interests, but Putin may not want to risk turning on Trump.
“Putin went further when he complimented Trump,” Fried said.
As tensions flare over the seizure of the ship, South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said on Wednesday: Trump “gave the green light” A Russia sanctions bill that has been in the works for months aims to cripple Moscow economically.
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Associated Press writer David Klepper in Washington contributed to this story.
