U.S. forces seized a large oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela on Wednesday in a high-profile operation that the Trump administration says is part of its broader effort to enforce sanctions and disrupt illicit energy networks tied to national security threats. The vessel, identified as the Skipper, was boarded in the Caribbean Sea by personnel from the FBI, U.S. Coast Guard, Department of Homeland Security, and U.S. military forces under a federal seizure warrant, according to officials.
President Donald Trump confirmed the operation, describing the tanker as one of the largest ever taken by U.S. authorities and emphasizing that the action targeted a ship previously sanctioned for illicit oil trading, including alleged transfers involving Iranian and Venezuelan crude. The administration has framed the broader campaign in the region as part of its push against narco-trafficking and sanctioned networks, although details tying the tanker specifically to drug or terrorism activity have not been publicly disclosed.
The seizure inflamed tensions with Caracas, with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro condemning the action as “international piracy” and accusing the United States of attempting to seize Venezuela’s natural resources.
The fallout reached all the way to Moscow. From inside the Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin rushed to defend Maduro and demanded the Trump administration justify its seizure of the tanker. Russian officials quickly followed with statements of solidarity — and warnings to Washington to back off.
The Hill continues:
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Thursday demanded that the Trump administration explain why a Venezuelan oil tanker was seized by U.S. forces.
“I really hope that the United States, although they consider themselves entitled to conduct such operations, will somehow explain, out of respect for other members of the world community, what facts led them to take such actions,” he said during an ambassadors’ roundtable on the Ukrainian crisis resolution.
Attorney General Pam Bondi has already shared a defense for the Wednesday move, alleging that the oil on the tanker was sanctioned for its “involvement in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organizations.”
She said Wednesday the oil was being transported from Venezuela and Iran.
However, several international partners have pushed back, raising concerns that U.S. forces carried out the operation without providing advance notice.
The clash highlights a familiar fault line between Washington and Moscow. Russia has spent years deepening its military and energy ties with oil-rich Venezuela, and the Kremlin routinely casts U.S. actions in Latin America as reckless or illegal — all while pushing to expand its own influence in the region.
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