HAMILTON, Canada

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday called for "restraint" amid tensions surrounding the recent US decision to impose a "total blockade" on Venezuelan oil tankers.

"The secretary-general is focused on avoiding any further escalation. The secretary general calls for restraint and for the immediate de-escalation of the situation," UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said in a news conference.

Urging all sides "to honor their obligations under international law, including the UN Charter and any other applicable legal framework to safeguard peace in the region," Haq said Guterres "believes that any difference must be resolved by peaceful means."

"The secretary general is following the current situation very closely, and he is engaging with relevant parties," Haq said.

The statement comes after US President Donald Trump on Monday announced that he had ordered a "total and complete blockade" of sanctioned vessels entering or leaving the South American country, which has faced a buildup of US forces off its northern coast to the Caribbean Sea.

Caracas called the move "grotesque," accusing Trump of attempting to seize the nation's natural resources. The government statement alleged that Trump "assumes that Venezuela's oil, land, and mineral wealth are his property."

Over the past four months, US forces have maintained a significant and growing military presence in the Caribbean, carrying out strikes against vessels suspected of drug trafficking. Trump has also said that the US military could soon conduct land strikes on Venezuelan soil.

The standoff escalated further when US forces seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the Venezuelan coast on Dec. 10, an act Caracas branded "international piracy."