PARIS: A host of European governments Monday summoned Russian diplomats following the prison death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne said during a visit to Argentina that Russia’s ambassador in Paris would be summoned, while Norway’s foreign ministry issued a statement that it was calling on its top Russian diplomat “for a talk” about Navalny’s death.
“In the conversation, Norwegian views will be conveyed about Russian authorities’ responsibility for the death and for facilitating a transparent investigation,” Norway said, adding that the meeting had not yet taken place but would shortly.
It followed similar announcements earlier Monday by Finland, Germany, Lithuania, Spain, Sweden and the Netherlands saying they have summoned diplomats from Russian embassies. London had done the same Friday evening.
Navalny’s death in a remote prison in the Arctic, where the 47-year-old was serving a 19-year sentence after surviving a 2020 poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin, was announced Friday.
“The regime of Vladimir Putin has once again shown its true nature,” France’s Sejourne said Monday.
Western countries have unanimously pointed blame at the Russian authorities for his death, three years into his sentence, which deprives the opposition of its most prominent figure a month ahead of presidential elections that are expected to enhance Putin’s firm grip on power.
Finland’s foreign ministry on X, formerly Twitter, called for Russia “to release all political prisoners” while confirming it had called on the ambassador Monday.
“It is terrible that Alexei Navalny has paid the ultimate price for his fight for a free and democratic Russia,” Hanke Bruins Slot, the Netherlands’ foreign affairs minister, posted on X. “We strongly urge Russia to release Navalny’s body to his family and relatives.”
Earlier Monday, Sweden’s Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said in a statement he had summoned Russia’s ambassador, and called for the European Union to consider “a new sanctions regime targeting the internal repression in Russia.”
On Friday, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said Madrid “demands that the circumstances” of the death be clarified.
European countries summon Russian diplomats over Navalny death
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European countries summon Russian diplomats over Navalny death
- Finland, Germany, Lithuania, Spain, Sweden and the Netherlands say they have summoned diplomats from Russian embassies
US intercepts fifth sanctioned tanker as it exerts control over Venezuelan oil distribution
WASHINGTON: US forces boarded another oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea on Friday, the US military said, as the Trump administration targets sanctioned tankers traveling to and from Venezuela as part of a broader effort to take control of the South American country’s oil.
The predawn raid was carried out by Marines and Navy sailors launched from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, part of the extensive force the US has built up in the Caribbean in recent months, according to US Southern Command, which declared “there is no safe haven for criminals” as it announced the seizure of the tanker called the Olina. The Coast Guard then took control of the vessel, officials said.
Southern Command and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem both posted unclassified footage on social media Friday morning of a US helicopter landing on the vessel and US personnel conducting a search of the deck and tossing what appeared to be an explosive device in front of a door leading to inside the ship.
In her post, Noem said the ship was “another ‘ghost fleet’ tanker ship suspected of carrying embargoed oil” and it had departed Venezuela “attempting to evade US forces.”
The Olina is the fifth tanker that has been seized by US forces as part of the effort by President Donald Trump’s administration to control the production, refining and global distribution of Venezuela’s oil products, and the third since the US ouster of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid.
In a post on his social media network later in the day, Trump said the seizure was conducted “in coordination with the Interim Authorities of Venezuela” but offered no elaboration.
The White House did not immediately respond to requests for more details.
Venezuela’s government acknowledged in a statement that it was working with US authorities to return the tanker, “which set sail without payment or authorization from the Venezuelan authorities,” to the South American nation.
“Thanks to this first successful joint operation, the ship is sailing back to Venezuelan waters for its protection and relevant actions,” according to the statement.
Samir Madani, co-founder of TankerTrackers.com, said his organization used satellite imagery and surface-level photos to document that at least 16 tankers left the Venezuelan coast in contravention of the quarantine US forces have set up to block sanctioned ships from conducting trade. The Olina was among that flotilla.
US government records show that the Olina was sanctioned for moving Russian oil under its prior name, Minerva M, and flagged in Panama.
While records show the Olina is now flying the flag of Timor-Leste, it is listed in the international shipping registry as having a false flag, meaning the registration it is claiming is not valid. In July, the owner and manager of the ship on its registration was changed to a company in Hong Kong.
According to ship tracking databases, the Olina last transmitted its location in November in the Caribbean, north of the Venezuelan coast. Since then, however, the ship has been running dark with its location beacon turned off.
While Noem and the military framed the seizure as part of an effort to enforce the law, other officials in the Trump administration have made clear they see it as a way to generate cash as they seek to rebuild Venezuela’s battered oil industry and restore its economy.
In an early morning social media post, Trump said the US and Venezuela “are working well together, especially as it pertains to rebuilding, in a much bigger, better, and more modern form, their oil and gas infrastructure.”
The administration said it expects to sell 30 million to 50 million barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan oil, with the proceeds to go to both the US and Venezuelan people. But the president expects the arrangement to continue indefinitely. He met Friday with executives from oil companies to discuss his goal of investing $100 billion in Venezuela to repair and upgrade its oil production and distribution.
Vice President JD Vance told Fox News this week that the US can “control” Venezuela’s “purse strings” by dictating where its oil can be sold.
Madani estimated that the Olina is loaded with 707,000 barrels of oil, which at the current market price of about $60 a barrel would be worth more than $42 million.
