Author: NatSec.ca

Americans seize Russian oil tanker in the North Atlantic [Upadted]

The US on Wednesday, January 7, 2026, seized an oil tanker in the North Atlantic – between Scotland and Iceland – that had evaded its effort to crack down on Venezuela’s energy exports, capping a pursuit that had lasted more than two weeks and raised tensions with Russia.

At about the same time, US forces boarded another oil tanker in international waters near the Caribbean. The raids suggest the Americans intends to keep up the pressure on Caracas. “They tried to seize the tanker and it evaded them,” says Matthew Wright of Kpler. “They did not want to set a precedent.”

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US plans to control Venezuela oil sales ‘indefinitely’

Energy Secretary Chris Wright at the Goldman Sachs Energy, CleanTech & Utilities Conference in Miami on Wednesday January 7, 2026, said the US intends to maintain significant control over Venezuela’s oil industry, including by overseeing the sale of the country’s production “indefinitely.”

“Going forward we will sell the production that comes out of Venezuela into the marketplace,” Wright said.

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Canadians need to prepare for the possibility the US uses military force to annex all or parts of Canada

Globe & Mail:

… A plausible scenario for US application of military force against Canada to seize our oil resources goes something like this. An independence referendum in Alberta – during which separatists receive a huge infusion of grey MAGA money – sees a majority vote to remain part of Canada, but with 30 per cent or more voting for separation. Mr. Trump declares the result is “fake” and that actual support for separation was “well over” 50 per cent. Alberta separatists then appeal to the US for help, claiming various kinds of oppression. The US moves troops to the northern Montana border and tells the rest of Canada that Alberta must be allowed to join America as the “51st state.”

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US military investment in Canadian graphite mining projects increases risk of annexation

Lomiko Metals, a company based in British Columbia, is to build an open-air graphite mine in La Petite-Nation, in the Outaouais region on the western edge of Quebec.

Once operational, the open-pit mine will produce 100,000 tonnes of graphite per year for 15 years.

In 2024, the ‘US Department of Defense’ announced it would invest US$8.3m in the project through their ‘Defense Production Act’ investment program, to ensure the availability of resources needed for US interests and their national defence.

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European leaders rally to support Denmark and Greenland

“Greenland belongs to its people, and only Denmark and Greenland can decide on matters concerning their relations,” the leaders of the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, and Denmark said in a joint statement on Tuesday January 6, 2026.

“NATO has made clear that the Arctic region is a priority and European Allies are stepping up,” the statement said. “We and many ‌other Allies have increased our presence, activities, and investments, to keep the Arctic safe and to deter adversaries.”

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Russia’s sabotage operations quadrupled in 2025

According to data compiled by the IISS, Russian shadow warfare attacks targeting Europe’s critical infrastructure have accelerated steadily since Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine and intensified further in 2024 and 2025, with incidents spanning the Baltics and Nordics, Central Europe, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean in patterns that reflect strategic intent.

These operations include sabotage of transport and logistics hubs, attacks on energy and communications infrastructure, disruptions to undersea cables, and acts of espionage, arson, vandalism, GPS jamming, and proxy-enabled activity carried out by third-country nationals, all designed to impose cumulative pressure while remaining just below NATO’s Article 5 threshold.

Russia is exploiting the gaps between peace and war, law enforcement and military response, and public and private responsibility, confident that NATO’s legal thresholds, political caution, and consensus-driven paralysis will continue to prevent a unified response to an attack that is already underway.

Read more:

January 4, 2025
Olga Lautman and Luchkov Andrii, Malign Influence Operations: Russia’s Sabotage Operations Quadrupled in 2025: Europe’s Rude Awakening

Michael Ignatieff: Predators and the future of sovereignty

A world divided into spheres of influence poses decisive new challenges to the sovereignty of the states inside them. Canada and Mexico will watch what happened in Venezuela and begin thinking the unthinkable. What if they have to defend themselves, not against Russia and China, but against their next-door neighbour?

The predators who promote spheres of influence promise us a more stable world: no more global policemen, no more universalist moral claims like human rights, warranting intrusion in the affairs of predators. Stability will be built henceforth on forthright moral relativism—what’s right for me is my business, what’s right for you is your business—and peace depends on armed deterrence in a law of the jungle.

In the world we’ve entered, weaker countries must learn self-reliance, resilience and guile to keep the predators at bay. A weak and divided Europe can’t continue to give America moral lessons, while trying to regulate America’s economic giants. Its entire rationale as a political project depends now on giving itself the capital markets to build their own economic strength and the military capability to defend themselves. Canada and Mexico must make a lot of new friends fast, establish new economic connections, and break down its internal barriers to an efficient and productive economy. If these middling powers face up to their own difficulties, a new multilateralism could take shape, brought into concert by their shared desire to hem in the power of the predators. If the middle powers band together, they might get through the 21st century with their sovereignties enhanced. If they go it alone or make the mistake of cozying up to one or other of the predators, they might find themselves swallowed up by one of the beasts.

Source: Michael Ignatieff’s Substack, January 4, 2026

What the oil industry reset following the US assault on Venezuela means for Canada

Richard Masson, Vice-Chair of the World Petroleum Council, says Venezuela’s oil production has been in long-term decline and there has been a ‘huge overreaction’ with what this means for Canada.

Canada has to be ‘very careful’ as U.S. has become a less reliable partner

 

Trump is prepared to attack Venezuela a second time if new President Rodriguez doesn’t cooperate

In an interview with NBC News, Trump said new Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez was cooperating in the wake of the US military invasion into Venezuela’s capital that led to the capture of the country’s leader, Nicolás Maduro, on Saturday, January 3, 2026.

Trump added his plans initially anticipated having to send in American forces again following the first operation, but that he currently does not believe a second attack will be necessary.

Still, Trump insisted that the US is “at war with people that sell drugs,” not with Venezuela.

Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, pleaded not guilty on Monday in New York City federal court to drug trafficking charges.

Source:

Jacob Wendler, Politico: Trump says he’s prepared to send more US troops to Venezuela if interim president doesn’t cooperate