Chinese, Russian and Iranian warships have launched a week of naval drills with host South African off the coast of Cape Town as geopolitical tensions run high over the United States’ intervention in Venezuela.

Russia has strongly condemned the U.S. seizure of an oil tanker. It heralds a new chill in relations between Moscow and Washington that could spread to other areas and affect President Donald Trump’s efforts to persuade Russia to end its nearly four-year war in Ukraine.