The US and Venezuela defiantly faced off each other at an emergency session of the Security Council as tensions continued to rise with Washington capturing two ships carrying oil from the Latin American nation and trying over the weekend to intercept another tanker headed there.

“The United States will impose and enforce sanctions to the maximum extent to deprive Maduro of the resources” to finance drug cartels and criminal gangs, US Permanent Representative Mike Walz said on Tuesday.

“The reality of the situation is that sanctioned oil tankers operate as the primary economic lifeline for Maduro and his illegitimate regime”, he said, justifying the US blockade of Venezuela imposed by US President Donlad Trump.

Venezuela’s Permanent Representative Samuel Moncada denied that his country was involved in drug trade or with sending criminal gangs to the US.

He said that “a redline has been crossed” and the US was engaged in a “massive violation of international law” and “piracy”.

"We will not lose our composure in defending the peace of our nation”, he said.

One of the ships seized by the US was reportedly carrying Venezuelan oil to China, and Beijing’s Deputy Permanent Representative Sun Lei said, “The US actions seriously infringe upon other countries' sovereignty, security, and legitimate rights and interests, seriously violate the UN Charter and international law”.

China and Russia rallied around Venezuela to defend it unequivocally at the Council.

Russia’s Permanent Representative Vasily Nebenzia repeated the criticism of the US saying its “cowboy-like conduct" run “counter to all key norms of international law”.

Other countries joined the US in expressing concern over Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro’s extensive violations of human rights and staying in power in an election that was fraudulent, while suppressing his political opponents.

But at the same time, they also expressed muted criticism of the US.

Without mentioning the US actions, Britain’s Deputy Permanent Representative Archie Young said, “The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea is the cornerstone of international law on ocean-related issues. The United Kingdom will always support international law and the upholding of it”.

France’s Deputy Permanent Representative Jay Dharmadhikari said his country was committed to international law and the UN Charter and believed “sovereignty and territorial integrity of states must be upheld”.

And on the US shooting down boats suspected of transporting drugs, he said, “Interdicting drug trafficking must be done in accordance with international law”.

The US has sunk 29 suspected drug boats since launching its Operation Southern Spear in September and, according to UN’s Assistant Secretary-General Khaled Khiari, who briefed the Council,105 people have been killed in these strikes.

He quoted UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk as saying that “the airstrikes by the United States of America on boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific – allegedly linked to drug trafficking -- violate international human rights law”.

Khiari also noted that “Public life has become further militarised, while Venezuelans continue to face serious human rights concerns and socioeconomic challenges”.

About the impact of the blockade, he said in a country with soaring inflation, currency instability, "millions are unable to meet basic needs” and the “recent air and maritime restrictions, along with reduced exports, risk further constraining the government’s fiscal ability to deliver basic public services”.

Secretary-General Guterres welcomes the offers of mediation and proposals for a peaceful solution, Khiari added.

Walz, like US Trump, framed Washington’s blockade and the sinking of boats as the primary aim of the war on drugs, and stayed away from Trump’s claims of Venezuela expropriating US property that he wants to regain.

“These (drug) cartels are not like the mafia. These cartels are sophisticated, very technically capable, well-financed, and are wreaking havoc in our region”, he said.

Walz named Cartel de Los Soles and the Tren de Aragua, which the US declared as foreign terrorist organisations.

He said that the cartel posed a threat to Europe as its drugs were destined to go there.

Most of the European countries on the Council acknowledged the drug threat, though they did not necessarily back the US sinking the boats.