Russia reaffirms ‘full support’ against US blockade of oil tankers, says Venezuela

United States seizes oil tanker near Venezuela, says Trump Reproduction/TV Globo Russia reaffirmed this Monday (22) its “total support” for Venezuela amid the blockade of the transit of oil tankers leaving or arriving in the country imposed by the Trump administration and the wave of seizures of vessels on the Venezuelan coast in recent days. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov “expressed Russia’s firm solidarity with the people of Venezuela and President Nicolás Maduro Moros, and reaffirmed its full support in the face of hostilities against our country,” Yvan Gil said on Telegram after a telephone conversation with his counterpart in Moscow. According to the Venezuelan Foreign Minister, Lavrov also said that Russia will offer “full support” to Venezuela’s actions in the UN Security Council. ✅ Follow the g1 international news channel on WhatsApp With this, the Russian government joined forces with China, which on Monday also reaffirmed its support for the Maduro regime in the face of the wave of seizures of oil tankers near the coast of Venezuela. Russia and China are two of the Venezuelan government’s biggest allies. Previously, Russia had promised to help Venezuela against the military and tension escalation promoted by the Trump administration, but never specified how. The Russian Foreign Ministry also said last week that tensions between the US and Venezuela could have “unforeseeable consequences” for the West. Even with the speeches, the White House said that Russia is unable to help Maduro beyond the rhetorical plan due to the war in Ukraine. On Sunday, news agencies revealed that the United States intercepted a third oil tanker near the coast of Venezuela. The Trump administration did not publicly comment on the interception until the last update of this report. Bloomberg stated that the name of the boat is the oil tanker Bella 1 and that American forces had already boarded the ship, while Reuters said that the vessel was being pursued and was intercepted, but that the approach had not yet taken place. See the videos that are trending on g1 If confirmed, this will be the second seizure of oil tankers near Venezuela this weekend alone and the third in just over ten days. The action forms part of the Trump administration’s pressure strategy against the Venezuelan regime of Nicolás Maduro. (Read more below) According to Bloomberg, it is an oil tanker that flew the Panamanian flag and was on its way to Venezuela to be loaded. A US government official told Reuters that the tanker is under sanctions and sailing under a false flag, adding that interceptions can take different forms beyond troop entry to the vessel, such as sailing or flying nearby. An official told Reuters that the tanker intercepted on Sunday was under economic sanctions, in line with the “total blockade” of vessels of the type announced by US President Donald Trump on Tuesday. However, the vessel seized on Saturday was not on the US sanctions list. Minutes after the new interception was revealed by news agencies, the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, stated that his country is facing “a campaign of aggression from psychological terrorism and privateers who robbed oil tankers.” It is unclear whether the speech is a specific response to the American action taken on Sunday. “Venezuela has been denouncing, facing and defeating for 25 weeks a campaign of aggression that ranges from psychological terrorism to privateers who robbed oil tankers. We are prepared to accelerate the march of the profound Revolution,” said Maduro on his social networks. US intercepts third oil tanker near Venezuela, agencies say In addition to this vessel, the United States seized on Saturday (20) the oil tanker Centuries and, on December 10, the Skipper. A few days ago, US President Donald Trump announced a blockade against all oil tankers subject to sanctions entering or leaving Venezuela. The announcement was interpreted by analysts as an increase in the tone of American threats. The Venezuelan government did not comment on this Sunday’s interception until the last update of this report. Previously, the Maduro regime called Trump’s blockade of oil tankers a “grotesque threat” and “absolutely irrational”, “international piracy” and said on Saturday that the seizures “will not go unpunished”. The seizure of oil tankers is part of the Trump administration’s pressure campaign against the Maduro regime, which includes extensive military mobilization in the Caribbean Sea, overflights in Venezuelan airspace and bombings of vessels. The interceptions, which aim to strangle the Venezuelan economy, added a new chapter to the escalation of tensions between the two countries. Why are ships being seized? Trump administration shows action that seized second oil tanker coming from Venezuela Venezuela has the largest proven oil reserves on the planet, with a capacity of approximately 303 billion barrels — or 17% of the known volume —, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the official US energy statistics body. This volume puts the country ahead of giants such as Saudi Arabia (267 billion) and Iran (209 billion), by a wide margin. Much of Venezuela’s oil, however, is extra-heavy, which requires sophisticated technology and high investments for extraction. 🔎 In practice, the potential is enormous, but it remains underutilized due to precarious infrastructure and international sanctions that limit operations and access to capital. There is a clear US interest. According to the EIA, Venezuela’s heavy crude “is well suited to North American refineries, especially those located along the Gulf Coast.” In this context, the Republican achieves two objectives simultaneously: by seeking to favor the US economy, he also puts pressure on Venezuela’s oil production and exports — a sector that is central to the country’s economy and supports the government of Nicolás Maduro. The initial effects have already started to appear this week. A Bloomberg News report indicated that Caracas faces a lack of capacity to store oil, amid measures by Washington to prevent vessels from docking or leaving Venezuelan ports. Since the United States imposed sanctions on Venezuela’s energy sector in 2019, traders and refiners that buy Venezuelan oil have resorted to using a “ghost fleet” of tankers, which hide their location, and vessels sanctioned for transporting oil from Iran or Russia. China is the biggest buyer of Venezuelan crude oil, which accounts for about 4% of its imports. In December, shipments are expected to reach an average of more than 600,000 barrels per day, according to analysts consulted by Reuters. See the videos that are trending on g1 For now, the oil market is well supplied, and there are millions of barrels in tankers off the coast of China waiting to be unloaded. If the embargo remains in place for some time, the loss of nearly a million barrels per day in crude oil supply is likely to put upward pressure on oil prices. The attack on oil tankers comes as Trump has ordered the Defense Department to carry out a series of attacks on vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific Ocean that his administration alleges are smuggling fentanyl and other illegal drugs into the United States and beyond. At least 104 people have been killed in 28 known attacks since the beginning of September. White House chief of staff Susie Wiles said in an interview with Vanity Fair published this week that Trump “wants to keep blowing up boats until Maduro shouts ‘uncle.'” Trump and Maduro AP Photo/Evan Vucci; Reuters/Leonardo Fernandez

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