US senator urges Trump to seize Russia's 'shadow fleet' tankers

He said this in an interview with MSNBC on Friday, Ukrinform reports.

Coons noted that the Trump administration is already using U.S. armed forces to intercept oil tankers belonging to a "ghost fleet" that helps sustain the Venezuelan regime.

According to him, the same tools should be applied "to interdict the ghost fleet that helps fund Russia's brutal war machine, that helps keep the Iranian regime alive, and helps support North Korea."

Coons believes such a move would be backed by Congress.

"He [Trump] would get bipartisan support for more actions to get tough on Putin and to begin to slow the flow of money into Putin’s murderous war machine against Ukraine," he said.

At the same time, the senator criticized Trump's foreign policy, noting that the president ran for office promising to avoid "stupid new wars overseas," and that the president has "been sleepwalking without a clear policy or a clear path forward into a conflict with one of our hemisphere's most capable authoritarian regimes."

Coons added that Trump needs to focus on the war in Ukraine and other foreign affairs "where he has failed to use tools at his disposal."

The senator’s remarks came after the United States sought to seize a third oil tanker in the Caribbean.

The U.S. has built a large military presence off the coast of Venezuela, including the deployment of the Navy's largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford. The administration has also authorized strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean, and Trump has signed off on CIA operations in Venezuela.

The U.S. Coast Guard has seized two oil tankers off Venezuela's coast, with the second tanker docked in Venezuela. Trump said the first tanker was seized "for a very good reason," and White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said the second tanker carried "sanctioned PDVSA oil," referring to Venezuela's state-owned oil company.