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With a Russian submarine and vessels nearby after a two-week pursuit in the Atlantic, the move risked more confrontation with Russia, which has condemned US actions over Venezuela and is already at odds with the West due to the war in Ukraine.

Russian state broadcaster RT showed an image of a helicopter hovering near the Marinera, originally known as the Bella-1, as US forces began boarding the US-sanctioned tanker. It was empty, but Washington says it has been used to transport sanctioned Venezuelan oil.

The US Coast Guard also intercepted a tanker carrying Venezuelan oil, the Panama-flagged M Sophia, near the northeast coast of South America, the US officials said, in the fourth seizure in recent weeks. The tanker was fully loaded, according to records of state oil company PDVSA.

“The only maritime energy transport allowed will be that consistent with American law and national security,” Stephen Miller, deputy White House chief of staff, said in a statement on social media. “There is unlimited economic potential for the Venezuelan energy sector through legitimate and authorised commercial avenues established by the United States.”

Trump’s administration was also pressing a deal with Venezuela to divert supplies intended for China, Venezuela’s top buyer, and import up to $2 billion worth of crude oil.

“The United States’ brazen use of force against Venezuela and its demand for ‘America First’ when Venezuela disposes of its own oil resources are typical acts of bullying,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a press conference.

Trump has openly spoken of controlling Venezuela’s vast oil reserves, in conjunction with US oil companies, after arresting and jailing Maduro, whom he has cast as a drug-trafficking dictator in league with Washington’s foes. Maduro pleaded not guilty this week to drug crimes in a federal court in New York.

Maduro’s Socialist Party allies remain in power in Venezuela, where Acting President Delcy Rodriguez is treading a fine line between denouncing his “kidnapping” and kick-starting cooperation with the US under explicit threats from Trump.

The Republican president said the US would refine and sell up to 50 million barrels of crude stuck in Venezuela under a US blockade as a first step in his plan to revive a sector long in decline despite sitting on the largest reserves in the world.

“This Oil will be sold at its Market Price, and that money will be controlled by me, as President of the United States of America, to ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States!” Trump posted on Tuesday.