Russia expects the US to release Russian sailors from the captured tanker

Moscow expects the United States to release the Russian crew of a Venezuelan-linked tanker.

This is reported by Reuters.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on January 20 that Moscow expects the United States to release the Russian crew members of a Venezuelan-linked oil tanker seized by Washington in the Atlantic earlier this month.

Lavrov said that two Russians, as well as Ukrainians, Georgians and Indians, were working on the Marinera when the US Navy seized the tanker on January 7 as part of an effort to block oil exports from Venezuela.

Interestingly, two days after the tanker was seized, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that US President Donald Trump had allegedly decided to release the Russians in response to the appeal of the Russian authorities. Trump himself did not comment on this report. Judging by Lavrov’s recent statement, no one released the Russian sailors, contrary to Zakharova’s statement.