U.S. uses 'brute force' on tankers but it's worth it — expert

Mykhailo Honchar, President of the Center for Global Studies Strategy XXI and expert on international energy and security relations, stated this on Espreso TV.

"The Trump administration and Trump himself acted, I would say, according to a Russian principle, one of Russia's principles. On one hand, to show 'Kuzma's mother' (a Russian idiom meaning to show someone who's boss - ed), which the Kremlin loves to demonstrate to others, and on the other hand, according to the principle: the only way to counter brute force is with more brute force. In other words, the Americans acted in a forceful manner here, without a doubt, but it was worth it. Why these two tankers? Note that the Marinera has a high draft, meaning the tanker is empty with no oil on board. This logically raises suspicion, given how it rushed away from Venezuela's coast, that this isn't just a tanker for transporting oil—there could have been at least some other cargo, or it could have been specially modified and carrying some special reconnaissance equipment. It's no coincidence it appeared there near Venezuela, supposedly for an oil shipment. But this is still speculation—I think the Americans will investigate all of this very thoroughly," he said.

Mykhailo Honchar noted that the tanker Sophia, on the contrary, was loaded with oil.

"The tanker Sophia, conversely, is loaded—clearly there's oil on board, some shipment of oil. Either way, it demonstrates that regardless of what the tanker had on board, they were detained. And this means that the Russian flag on a tanker doesn't actually provide protection. And the fact that the Russian Navy vessel, a submarine, took no action—unlike the situation a few months ago when Estonian naval forces in the Baltic tried to detain an empty tanker heading to load at Russia's Ust-Luga, and Russia took action then, scrambling a fighter jet that drove off the Estonian Navy while the tanker didn't stop. So I think the Americans took that moment into account. And in their characteristic manner, continuing the forceful actions taken in Venezuela, they showed Putin—they demonstratively humiliated him," he noted.

And this is very good news, remarked Mykhailo Honchar.

"Specifically, it's positive in the context of the inaction of European countries, which calmly, despite sanctions imposed by the European Union, basically watch tankers from this so-called shadow fleet shuttle back and forth through the Danish straits—empty ones heading to load, loaded ones heading to the global market with oil. But aside from a few cases of detaining these tankers, and in one German case it was a risk of catastrophe, precisely in January of last year, and therefore the detention was fully justified—although, again, a German court eventually decided last autumn that it was an unlawful detention. The detention was lawful, but its arrest and confiscation were unlawful. Therefore, of course, against this backdrop, the actions of the American side show an example of how Europeans should act as well," he added.