Our president in the US bashes every other world leader besides the worst of the worst (Putin, Bibi, Kim Jung, etc.) but he can’t even control his “friends”.
Instead of bashing Macron, Donald really ought to be taking notes on how it’s done.
From Russia. The US just took them over. Where are we storing them? Our southern waters are full of Venezuelan oil tankers. Nothing in Pacific coast where I live. Nothing on east coast,
France stupidly voted to give Iran a seat on UN council and was the only Western country to do so. You know who else voted alongside them? Russia and China.
France was also the only Western country to pay Iran's tolls, only for their tanker to get hit by Iran almost immediately after.
There's a reason why Macron isn't in the news anymore. There's a reason all his big grandiose speeches stopped. He got a generous helping of humble pie and he learned to keep quiet.
Its funny how these European countries waited until the US did it first before they found their balls and started seizing a few Russian shadow fleet ships. Especially pathetic for France to wait, considering it's supposed to be the big bad independent European country with it's independence and nukes.
But at the same time these European seizures are quick, and they let the ship go not too long after with its cargo. It's basically a minor inconvenience before it is allowed to head to its destination. The US on the other hand takes the oil because wtf is Russia going to do? Nothing.
Finland, December 2024 (Eagle S, boarded but not confiscated)
Germany, January 2025 (Eventin, confiscation was deemed illegal by courts but is still contested)
Estonia, April 2025 (Kiwala, released)
France, September 2025, (Kiwala, released)
The US first seized a Russian (shadow fleet) vessel in December 2025. So no, European nations didn't 'wait for the US to find their balls', it's rather the Americans that waited until Europe first acted.
You're right that European nations don't do much more than slap a fine of a few million euro on the owner for the crime of flying a false flag. That's because there's no legal basis for seizing the vessel. The Germans were more than eager to claim the oil but they lost the case in court.
European nations will have to amend their laws, and even then it'll be questionable under international law, so there's little political motivation to start the process. It's much more expedient to give Ukraine cash to strike oil refineries before it even enters a ship.
On the topic of finding your balls though, how are the American sanctions on Russian oil doing?
The American government is rethinking its entire alliance strategy. NATO is a slow moving behemoth with far too many countries that have to agree for anything to be done.
We saw this at the beginning of the Ukraine war. Countries were skittish, didn’t want to get involved, or only wanted to send helmets. Ukraine got incredibly lucky that Russia was so incompetent, because NATOs help was not sufficient and Ukraine could have easily lost the war in the first month to a more prepared military.
Look at how many American presidents have had to beg Europe to spend more on defense. It’s been decades. Central, southern, and western Europeans don’t take their defense seriously, and they never will.
So, the US has realized it’s far better to have fewer allies as long as those allies are willing to move fast, make quick decisions, and risk it all for the cause.
Russia and Ukraine are now both more advanced than any other military on the planet, including the US. They both have far more drone battlefield experience than anyone. We should be allied with one of those countries. And well, to be blunt, Ukraines demographics mean it’s going to fail to be a country much longer no matter how the war ends up.
The US is going to end up leaving NATO, and making bilateral agreements with a few European countries. The US will also end up allied to Russia.
The first step in this process is taking the pressure off Russia. Now we won’t completely abandon Ukraine, but we will let the Europeans drag out the war if they so like.
As far as sanctions go, Europeans are already doing everything they can to damage our dollar. They are trying to come up with all different kinds of ways to hurt us. Including dumping all of our debt. We should not be helping them with sanctions on Russia.
Because that's actually against the law. What UNCLOS actually says is that, if you suspect a crime has been committed on a ship, you need to ask permission from the flag country to board, but if the vessel is unflagged, you can board at any time. But ONLY to investigate the suspected crime. No where does it say that you are free to take the cargo, basic property law still applies. Even sailing without insurance is not really a crime, just as you wouldn't go to jail for an unpaid parking ticket.
AI slop but it's AI slop that explains it for you: When a ship uses a fraudulent registration, claims a country it isn't registered with, or swaps flags mid-voyage to hide from sanctions, it falls directly into a massive legal trap under international maritime law.
Under UNCLOS Article 92, a ship is required to sail under the flag of one single state and cannot change its flag mid-voyage unless there is a genuine, documented transfer of ownership.
The law is brutal if you try to cheat the system:
>
When you combine a false flag (statelessness) with sanctions evasion, the enforcement rules shift drastically:
No Jurisdictional Shield: Because the ship is legally stateless, no country can step up and complain to the UN that its sovereignty was violated if another country's navy boards it.
Domestic and International Sanctions Law: UNCLOS governs the seas, but it doesn't govern trade. When a warship boards a stateless vessel and finds cargo being moved in violation of international sanctions (like UN mandates) or heavy domestic sanctions (like US or EU enforcement actions), the enforcing nation can legally seize the vessel and its cargo under its own domestic laws.
Real-World Enforcement: For example, nations frequently treat false-flagged shadow fleet tankers as legal "quarantines" or law-enforcement targets. They intercept the ships, escort them to a port, and arrest the captain.
And when the United States did it, people on Reddit were calling them unlawful seizures and saying that the military is following unlawful orders. The moment European countries started doing them people on Reddit flipped.
Yeah, it was mostly Europeans who spent the last few years being loud online about how the US needs to do more to help Ukraine. Then when we start hurting Russians funding mechanisms, those same Europeans say "that's illegal, You can't do that!"
That's weird, it doesn't feel like we were beat. We have a literal blockade on their exports, which is an act of war. Why are they not at war with us? Any large power would be bombing the US carriers and strike groups, Iran is not.
It's almost like Irans rhetoric doesn't match the reality on the ground.
Yes I know a lot of the bases have been destroyed, but if those kinds of damages are what we’re using for the basis of who’s winning the war, Iran is saying it’s taken hundreds of billions of dollars in infrastructure damage, far more than the US bases, and wants reparations. So Iran has taken more damage. By this metric, the US won.
Hundreds of billions in damage, that we are going to pay them in reparations (or an "investment fund" that just so happens to be the same exact amount of the demanded reparations, so that we can pretend it's not reparations). How are we winning when our tax dollars are being put on the line ?
Bro, go look at the article that published that 300 billion fund rumor. Their source is an anonymous Iranian guy. lol. Hardly credible.
Also, if we are taking that article at face value, it’s not American tax money they would be getting.
The investment fund, would be American companies putting up their own money in joint ventures with the Iranian government.
Who gives a fuck if companies risk their own money and it might even be a good thing because it might mean we are less likely to let Israel talk us into another war.
Meh I’ll be impressed when they seize residential property and artwork in a meaningful way from corrupt proceeds. It’s shameful it takes a decade plus to take back property bought with illegal funds.
ViolettaQueso | 17 hours ago
Our president in the US bashes every other world leader besides the worst of the worst (Putin, Bibi, Kim Jung, etc.) but he can’t even control his “friends”.
Instead of bashing Macron, Donald really ought to be taking notes on how it’s done.
alilhillbilly | 16 hours ago
He works for his friends?
Putin is the one calling the shots.
DMOOre33678 | 13 hours ago
Trump has already seized multiple of these ships
ViolettaQueso | 13 hours ago
Russian shadow fleet ships? Nope
DMOOre33678 | 13 hours ago
Well then you should know the US has seized multiple shadow fleet ships in the past year
ViolettaQueso | 13 hours ago
From Russia. The US just took them over. Where are we storing them? Our southern waters are full of Venezuelan oil tankers. Nothing in Pacific coast where I live. Nothing on east coast,
I’ll be needing a link for my education.
ViolettaQueso | 13 hours ago
I found the links.
EldritchMacaron | 10 hours ago
Care to share ?
madeapizza | 13 hours ago
Don’t let these facts ruin their narrative
DMOOre33678 | 13 hours ago
Damn you really are a bot lmao
ViolettaQueso | 13 hours ago
Me? Lol. I’m a 57 year old divorced chick from California lol
YourFuture2000 | 10 hours ago
Trump sized many ships and we in Europe have criticized Trump against it, accusing the US to steal oil and other goods from other countries.
Silent_Remove_If_Gay | 12 hours ago
Taking notes?
France stupidly voted to give Iran a seat on UN council and was the only Western country to do so. You know who else voted alongside them? Russia and China.
France was also the only Western country to pay Iran's tolls, only for their tanker to get hit by Iran almost immediately after.
There's a reason why Macron isn't in the news anymore. There's a reason all his big grandiose speeches stopped. He got a generous helping of humble pie and he learned to keep quiet.
Chipay | 7 hours ago
> France was also the only Western country to pay Iran's tolls
I'm sorry, do you think nations pay Iran for passage?
DeRpY_CUCUMBER | 17 hours ago
Its funny how these European countries waited until the US did it first before they found their balls and started seizing a few Russian shadow fleet ships. Especially pathetic for France to wait, considering it's supposed to be the big bad independent European country with it's independence and nukes.
But at the same time these European seizures are quick, and they let the ship go not too long after with its cargo. It's basically a minor inconvenience before it is allowed to head to its destination. The US on the other hand takes the oil because wtf is Russia going to do? Nothing.
Chipay | 6 hours ago
The US first seized a Russian (shadow fleet) vessel in December 2025. So no, European nations didn't 'wait for the US to find their balls', it's rather the Americans that waited until Europe first acted.
You're right that European nations don't do much more than slap a fine of a few million euro on the owner for the crime of flying a false flag. That's because there's no legal basis for seizing the vessel. The Germans were more than eager to claim the oil but they lost the case in court.
European nations will have to amend their laws, and even then it'll be questionable under international law, so there's little political motivation to start the process. It's much more expedient to give Ukraine cash to strike oil refineries before it even enters a ship.
On the topic of finding your balls though, how are the American sanctions on Russian oil doing?
DeRpY_CUCUMBER | 5 hours ago
The American government is rethinking its entire alliance strategy. NATO is a slow moving behemoth with far too many countries that have to agree for anything to be done.
We saw this at the beginning of the Ukraine war. Countries were skittish, didn’t want to get involved, or only wanted to send helmets. Ukraine got incredibly lucky that Russia was so incompetent, because NATOs help was not sufficient and Ukraine could have easily lost the war in the first month to a more prepared military.
Look at how many American presidents have had to beg Europe to spend more on defense. It’s been decades. Central, southern, and western Europeans don’t take their defense seriously, and they never will.
So, the US has realized it’s far better to have fewer allies as long as those allies are willing to move fast, make quick decisions, and risk it all for the cause.
Russia and Ukraine are now both more advanced than any other military on the planet, including the US. They both have far more drone battlefield experience than anyone. We should be allied with one of those countries. And well, to be blunt, Ukraines demographics mean it’s going to fail to be a country much longer no matter how the war ends up.
The US is going to end up leaving NATO, and making bilateral agreements with a few European countries. The US will also end up allied to Russia.
The first step in this process is taking the pressure off Russia. Now we won’t completely abandon Ukraine, but we will let the Europeans drag out the war if they so like.
As far as sanctions go, Europeans are already doing everything they can to damage our dollar. They are trying to come up with all different kinds of ways to hurt us. Including dumping all of our debt. We should not be helping them with sanctions on Russia.
Vegetable_Review4967 | 16 hours ago
Yeah it's insane. We are already at war. Why possibly not seize them?
Takemyfishplease | 16 hours ago
Cause it’s not War yet, just war. And there is a massive difference.
_PROBABLY_CORRECT | 16 hours ago
Okay now you have my attention. Help a redditor out with the difference?
edit: I'm occasionally pedantic about my own spelling
Accidental-Genius | 15 hours ago
Proxy war vs: Hot War.
moringa-cultist | 16 hours ago
Because that's actually against the law. What UNCLOS actually says is that, if you suspect a crime has been committed on a ship, you need to ask permission from the flag country to board, but if the vessel is unflagged, you can board at any time. But ONLY to investigate the suspected crime. No where does it say that you are free to take the cargo, basic property law still applies. Even sailing without insurance is not really a crime, just as you wouldn't go to jail for an unpaid parking ticket.
djskrilled | 14 hours ago
AI slop but it's AI slop that explains it for you: When a ship uses a fraudulent registration, claims a country it isn't registered with, or swaps flags mid-voyage to hide from sanctions, it falls directly into a massive legal trap under international maritime law.
Under UNCLOS Article 92, a ship is required to sail under the flag of one single state and cannot change its flag mid-voyage unless there is a genuine, documented transfer of ownership.
The law is brutal if you try to cheat the system:
>
When you combine a false flag (statelessness) with sanctions evasion, the enforcement rules shift drastically:
pharmalawyer | 15 hours ago
Absolutely everything in this post is wrong. Incredible.
[OP] ChangeUsername220 | 15 hours ago
And when the United States did it, people on Reddit were calling them unlawful seizures and saying that the military is following unlawful orders. The moment European countries started doing them people on Reddit flipped.
DeRpY_CUCUMBER | 15 hours ago
Yeah, it was mostly Europeans who spent the last few years being loud online about how the US needs to do more to help Ukraine. Then when we start hurting Russians funding mechanisms, those same Europeans say "that's illegal, You can't do that!"
YourFuture2000 | 10 hours ago
We in Europe love to contract ourselves with duble standards and then pretend we have the high moral ground to judge others.
The old eurocentric ignorance and now a different and hidden version of nationalism, this time as regionalism.
Rumblestillskin | 16 hours ago
Big bad USA gets beat by Iran
DeRpY_CUCUMBER | 16 hours ago
That's weird, it doesn't feel like we were beat. We have a literal blockade on their exports, which is an act of war. Why are they not at war with us? Any large power would be bombing the US carriers and strike groups, Iran is not.
It's almost like Irans rhetoric doesn't match the reality on the ground.
_PROBABLY_CORRECT | 16 hours ago
Yeah that, or the current administration has not been entirely truthful with the amount of damage done to bases in the region. Probably because they've slowly been putting a pressure campaign on most US news media to report what they want.
DeRpY_CUCUMBER | 16 hours ago
Yes I know a lot of the bases have been destroyed, but if those kinds of damages are what we’re using for the basis of who’s winning the war, Iran is saying it’s taken hundreds of billions of dollars in infrastructure damage, far more than the US bases, and wants reparations. So Iran has taken more damage. By this metric, the US won.
djskrilled | 14 hours ago
Hundreds of billions in damage, that we are going to pay them in reparations (or an "investment fund" that just so happens to be the same exact amount of the demanded reparations, so that we can pretend it's not reparations). How are we winning when our tax dollars are being put on the line ?
DeRpY_CUCUMBER | 14 hours ago
Bro, go look at the article that published that 300 billion fund rumor. Their source is an anonymous Iranian guy. lol. Hardly credible.
Also, if we are taking that article at face value, it’s not American tax money they would be getting.
The investment fund, would be American companies putting up their own money in joint ventures with the Iranian government.
Who gives a fuck if companies risk their own money and it might even be a good thing because it might mean we are less likely to let Israel talk us into another war.
NoEstablishment1221 | 6 hours ago
Meh I’ll be impressed when they seize residential property and artwork in a meaningful way from corrupt proceeds. It’s shameful it takes a decade plus to take back property bought with illegal funds.