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Russia has called on the United States to ensure the "immediate return" of Russian crew members aboard the Marinera, which was seized in the North Atlantic as part of a US blockade of Venezuela-bound oil tankers.
"We demand from the United States to guarantee them humane and dignified treatment, to strictly respect their rights and interests, and not to impede their immediate return to their homeland," the Russian Foreign Ministry said, as reported by the Tass news agency, without specifying how many Russians were on board the ship.
Earlier, Russia's Transport Ministry said the seizure of a Russian-flagged tanker sailing in the Atlantic constituted a violation of maritime law.
"In accordance with the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, freedom of navigation applies on the high seas and no state has the right to use force against ships legally registered in the jurisdictions of other states," Russia's Transport Ministry said in a statement.
As noted, communication with the Marinera ship was cut off after US naval forces boarded it.
The chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Construction of Russia, Andrei Klisas, described the seizure of the tanker as open piracy.
The Russian Foreign Ministry demands that the United States ensure humane and dignified treatment of Russian citizens on the Mariner ship and respect their rights.
On January 4, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Fox News that the US would continue to seize tankers carrying Venezuelan oil and attack ships suspected of being used to transport drugs.
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