These ships carry large volumes of Russian oil and petroleum products from Russian ports in the Baltics, generating revenue that helps finance the war in Ukraine.
Security analysts say Russia is operating hundreds of vessels to get around the sanctions imposed on its oil exports over its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The US has rejected a Canadian proposal to establish a task force that would tackle Russia’s so-called shadow fleet of oil tankers, as the Trump administration re-evaluates its positions across multilateral organizations, according to people familiar with the matter.