Trump rachets up tensions with Moscow as U.S. military seizes Russian tanker in international waters and talks more about taking Greenland by force

Russia responds with demands to safely return its citizens currently being detained by the U.S. military.

Another U.S.-Russia flashpoint has emerged, adding a layer of tension that brings the two superpowers to the brink of direct military confrontation perhaps sooner than any of us thought possible.

I had a timetable of 2027 for the breakout of full-blown World War III but is it possible it could come in 2026? Today’s events suggest it is.

The U.S., on orders of President Trump, seized a Russian-owned tanker in international waters Wednesday morning and boarded the ship. It was stopped in the north Atlantic between Iceland and the U.K.

Given that this vessel had defied the U.S. blockade of Venezuela a few weeks ago and fled, then received protection from Russian military assets, including a Russian submarine, the move by the U.S. to continue to pursue it with its own military assets and then take it over, is extraordinary.

The Russian foreign ministry issued a terse statement:

“The United States should not hinder the swift return of Russian citizens from the vessel ‘Marinera’ to their homelan…