HAMILTON, Canada

Russia's UN envoy Vassily Nebenzia on Tuesday called the US' blockade on Venezuela "illegal," describing it as "a real act of aggression," that risked becoming a precedent for future action against other countries in the region.

Addressing an emergency session at the UN Security Council, Nebenzia said the aim of the US' "total and complete blockade" on sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuelan waters was to exert "military, political and economic pressure, with the aim of changing an inconvenient regime for the United States."

"The illegal US blockade on the coast of Venezuela is the most clear and absolutely real act of aggression, and the responsibility of Washington is also evident for the catastrophic consequences of such cowboy-like conduct for the residents of the country, which is now blockaded," he said.

Nebenzia also argued that the US intervention could "become a template for future acts of force against Latin American states."

"In Washington, they are ready to respect your independence and take your interest into account only if you are willing to tailor them to the interest of the United States and to conduct a policy which is convenient to and beneficial to them," he added.

Since US President Donald Trump declared the oil blockade last week, US forces have seized at least two tankers as they departed from Venezuela, with Trump announcing that Washington would be "keeping it" along with its cargo.

Venezuela has condemned the US actions as "international piracy."

Washington said its measures aim to combat corruption and drug trafficking, while Caracas accuses the US of using anti-narcotics efforts as a pretext to remove President Nicolas Maduro from power and gain control over Venezuela's oil resources.