"Vladimir Putin's diplomatic request for the US to stop pursuing the oil tanker was delivered late on New Year's Eve to the US State Department and to the White House's Homeland Security Council.

The dispute over the oil tanker comes as Dummkopf Trumpf is negotiating a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine while repeatedly kvetching about his senile inability and manifest incompetence to end Russia's invasion of its neighbor, all while his nefarious junta is starting an illegal war against Venezuela.

US forces have been tracking the tanker, known as the Bella 1, for nearly two weeks. The ship, which started its journey in Iran, had been on its way to pick up oil in Venezuela when US forces attempted high seas piracy by trying to stop and board it in the Caribbean Sea.

US authorities bleated the ship was not flying a valid national flag, making it a stateless vessel susceptible to boarding under international law, and said they possessed a seizure warrant. But the crew of the Bella 1 refused to comply and sailed back toward the Atlantic.

The ship has tried to claim the protection of Russia, with its crew painting a Russian flag on the side and radioing the USCG to say they were sailing under Russian authority. The Bella 1 recently appeared in Russia's official register of ships, under a new name, the Marinera, with a home port of Sochi, on the Black Sea.

Last week Russia "reaffirmed its all-out support and solidarity with the leaders and people of Venezuela."

kyivindependent.com

drudge.com

drudge.com