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The Unit­ed Na­tions has urged re­straint and de-es­ca­la­tion amid ris­ing ten­sions be­tween the Unit­ed States and Venezuela, fol­low­ing Pres­i­dent Don­ald Trump’s an­nounce­ment of a block­ade of a Venezue­lan oil tanker.

Asked about the le­gal­i­ty of the move, Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesper­son for the Sec­re­tary-Gen­er­al, said the fo­cus re­mained on pre­vent­ing fur­ther es­ca­la­tion:

“The Sec­re­tary-Gen­er­al calls for re­straint and for the im­me­di­ate de-es­ca­la­tion of the sit­u­a­tion. He calls on all stake­hold­ers to ho­n­our their oblig­a­tions un­der in­ter­na­tion­al law, in­clud­ing the UN Char­ter and any oth­er ap­plic­a­ble le­gal frame­work to safe­guard peace in the re­gion.”