MOSCOW, December 11. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov demands that the United States provide reasonable justification as to why it detained a tanker off the coast of Venezuela, en route to Cuba with Venezuelan oil.

"I really hope that the United States, although they consider themselves entitled to conduct such operations, will somehow explain, out of respect for other members of the world community, what facts led them to take such actions," he said during an embassy discussion on the Ukraine peace process.

"There is too little information here because I do not know how the United States views the Venezuelan situation, except that President [Donald] Trump has spoken publicly demanding a regime change or voluntary resignation of [Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro], but Chevron is operating in Venezuela, buying Venezuelan oil. What illegal volumes of this type of fuel were on this tanker - we need to get to the bottom of that somehow."

Lavrov also said that Russia wants discussions on the fight against drug trafficking and ensuring maritime security to be collective, so that no nation would be staring down unilateral actions.

On the tanker

Earlier, Trump said that the tanker was detained off the coast of Venezuela, and that the United States plans to keep the oil. He also promised to disclose the owner.

The US Department of Justice said that the tanker was transporting oil from Venezuela and Iran in violation of the US sanctions regime. US Attorney General Pam Bondi also claimed that the ship was used to support foreign terrorist organizations.

In response, the Venezuelan government in a statement accused the US of "blatant theft" and described the seizure as "an act of international piracy." It said it would denounce the incident before international bodies.