Washington, DC [US], January 9 : President Donald Trump on Thursday (local time) refused to clarify whether he had spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin after US forces seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker in the Atlantic Ocean, CNN reported.
Responding to a query during an interview on Fox News, Trump said, "I don't want to say that, but the fact is that the Russian ships, there was a submarine and a destroyer, they both left very quickly when we arrived, and we took over the ship and the oil is being unloaded right now."
US forces boarded and seized the tanker on Wednesday (local time) after a weeks-long pursuit on the high seas, an operation that has heightened tensions with Moscow and added pressure on Russia's ally Venezuela.
While Trump claimed oil was being unloaded from the vessel, the tanker was not carrying any oil at the time of the seizure, according to analytics firm Kpler, CNN reported.
The ageing tanker, originally named Bella 1, was sanctioned by the United States in 2024 for operating as part of a so-called "shadow fleet" transporting illicit Iranian oil.
Last month, the US Coast Guard attempted to seize the vessel while it was en route to Venezuela to load oil, sailing under the Guyana flag. The crew refused boarding and abruptly diverted into the Atlantic.
Subsequently, the crew painted a Russian flag on the ship's side, and the vessel later appeared in a Russian shipping registry under a new name, Marinera.
Amid the operation, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt downplayed the risk of confrontation with Russia, asserting that Trump maintains a good relationship with Putin.
Ahead of the seizure, the United States repositioned key military assets to the United Kingdom, a move that added to mounting international tensions, CNN reported.
V-22 Osprey aircraft were active across the UK in recent days, with flight data indicating training missions operating out of RAF Fairford, while two AC-130 gunships were seen arriving at RAF Mildenhall on Sunday.
The tanker was seized about 190 miles off Iceland's southern coast in the North Atlantic, according to ship-tracking website MarineTraffic.
The data showed the vessel making a sharp turn south around the time it was reported seized, CNN said.
Russia's Transport Ministry later confirmed it lost contact with the tanker after US forces boarded the ship at 7 am ET (Eastern Time).
US Navy SEALs were among the personnel involved in the boarding, after being transported by the US Army's 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, known as the "night stalkers," according to two people briefed on the operation, CNN reported.
The UK defence ministry said it assisted with the seizure "following a US request for assistance".
The United States did not release official footage of the operation, but grainy video aired by Russian state media RT appeared to show a vessel shadowing Bella 1 in the days before the seizure.
In footage filmed from aboard the tanker, an unmarked ship can be seen hovering in the distance, partially obscured by fog. RT claimed the vessel was a US Coast Guard ship operating in the Atlantic, CNN reported.
US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said the crew of the US Coast Guard cutter Munro had pursued the tanker for weeks "across the high seas and through treacherous storms," though it remains unclear whether the ship seen in the footage was the Munro, CNN reported.
Ahead of the seizure, Russian military movements included repositioning naval assets and a submarine to protect the tanker, a US official said.
However, it remains unclear how close those vessels were when the ship was boarded.
Russia condemned the seizure, with its Transport Ministry arguing that "no state has the right to use force against vessels that are properly registered in the jurisdictions of other nations" under the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, a treaty the US has not signed, CNN reported.
The Russian Foreign Ministry demanded that the US return the Russian citizens aboard "to their homeland", according to state news agency TASS.
TASS also reported that Russian lawmaker Leonid Slutsky described the seizure as an act of "21st-century piracy" that violates international law.
Russian leader Vladimir Putin has yet to comment publicly on the incident.
China also condemned the seizure on Thursday, calling it a "serious violation of international law."
Foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said, "China has always opposed illegal unilateral sanctions that lack a basis in international law and are not authorised by the UN Security Council, and opposes any actions that violate the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and infringe upon the sovereignty and security of other countries."
The tanker was not carrying any oil at the time it was seized, according to Kpler, CNN reported.
This contrasts with two other vessels, Skipper and Centuries, which were intercepted by the US Coast Guard in recent weeks and piloted to Texas, where authorities plan to seize their oil cargoes.
Kpler said Bella 1 had two separate 99-day gaps in its Automatic Identification System transmissions, a tactic commonly associated with vessels loading sanctioned Iranian crude.
Data shared with CNN showed that at least 16 vessels were loaded with crude or fuel oil in Venezuela between October 2025 and January 2026, with many switching off their AIS systems.
In a separate operation on Wednesday, the United States said it seized another tanker, Sophia, in international waters near the Caribbean.
US Southern Command described it as a "stateless, sanctioned" vessel engaged in "illicit activities."
The tanker is carrying about 2 million barrels of crude loaded from Venezuela, according to Kpler.
Despite concerns that such actions could escalate tensions with Russia and China, the White House said it would continue seizing sanctioned vessels.
Trump is "going to enforce our policy that's best for the United States of America," Leavitt said, adding, "That means enforcing the embargo against all dark fleet vessels that are illegally transporting oil."