CARACAS/MOSCOW/WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump said Monday that it would be "smart" for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to step down as tension escalates between the two leaders.

"Well, I think it probably would... That's up to him what he wants to do. I think it'd be smart for him to do that," Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, when asked whether the goal was to force Maduro to leave power.

"If he plays tough, it'll be the last time he's ever able to play tough," he added.

Trump also confirmed that the United States had been pursuing a sanctioned oil tanker over the weekend.

Multiple US media outlets reported Sunday that the US Coast Guard "is in active pursuit" of the oil tanker Bella 1 in international waters off the coast of Venezuela while the vessel was en route to Venezuela to load cargo.

The New York Times reported on Monday that the tanker had fled into the Atlantic Ocean. If intercepted, it would mark the third oil tanker successfully seized by the United States off Venezuela in less than two weeks.

Last week, Trump ordered a "full and total blockade" of all sanctioned tankers entering or leaving Venezuela, declaring Maduro's government a US-designated foreign terrorist organization.

The Pentagon has deployed around a dozen warships, including the USS Gerald R. Ford, a major aircraft carrier, and about 15,000 troops to the Caribbean Sea, which shares a significant amount of coastline with Venezuela. The region has not seen such a massive U.S. military presence for at least three decades.

In a phone interview with NBC News last week, Trump said that he did not rule out the possibility of a war with the oil-rich South American nation.

Venezuela has repeatedly accused Washington of seeking regime change and military expansion in Latin America, condemning the interception of oil tankers as "piracy."

Maduro, without directly referring to Trump's words, emphasized that every leader should focus on the domestic matters of their own nation.

"If I speak to him again, I will tell him: each country should mind its own internal affairs," Maduro said on Monday in a televised address. 

ALSO READ: Reports: US ‘in active pursuit’ of third oil tanker near Venezuela

Also on Monday, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil said Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has sent a letter to heads of state of countries in the Latin American and Caribbean region, denouncing the escalation of US aggressions against Venezuela and their impact on the region, 

"I am writing to alert you to an escalation of extremely serious aggressions by the government of the United States of America, whose effects transcend my country," Gil said as he read the letter at the Venezuelan foreign ministry headquarters.

The letter recounts events since August, when the United States "ordered the largest naval and air deployment in the Caribbean Sea," including a nuclear submarine, as part of a purported anti-drug operation.

"This action constitutes a direct threat of the use of force," Gil read, adding that it violates the UN Charter.

"Venezuela has not committed any act that justifies this military intimidation," Maduro wrote in the letter.

Between Sept 2 and Dec 18, US forces carried out 28 missile strikes against civilian vessels in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean, resulting in the extrajudicial execution of 104 people, the letter said.

The United States recently seized two ships carrying some 4 million barrels of Venezuelan oil and announced an "absolute" naval blockade against tankers transporting Venezuelan crude oil, the letter said, adding that "these actions constitute acts of piracy" under international law.

The letter reaffirmed Venezuela's commitment to peace, saying the country "declares with absolute clarity that it is prepared to defend its sovereignty, territorial integrity and resources, in accordance with international law."

Maduro warned that these attacks will impact "the supply of oil and energy, increase instability in international markets, and damage the economies of Latin America, the Caribbean, and the world."

The Venezuelan president concluded with an appeal for condemning the acts of aggression, piracy and extrajudicial executions, and demanded the immediate cessation of military deployment.  

Meanwhile, Russian and Venezuelan foreign ministers on Monday voiced grave concern over "increasing escalatory actions" by Washington in the Caribbean Sea, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

ALSO READ: Venezuela denounces US seizure of another oil tanker

During a phone conversation, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Gil said that the developments have far-reaching consequences for the region and pose a threat to international shipping.

Lavrov reaffirmed Russia's comprehensive support and solidarity with the leadership and people of Venezuela under the current circumstances, said the ministry in a news release.

The two sides agreed to maintain close bilateral cooperation and coordinated actions on international platforms, primarily at the United Nations, to ensure respect for state sovereignty and the principle of non-interference in internal affairs, the ministry said. 

Also on Monday, the US military on Monday sank "a low-profile vessel" suspected of transporting drugs in international waters in the eastern Pacific, killing a male aboard, the US Southern Command said.

At the direction of the US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the US Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted "a lethal kinetic strike" on the vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations in international waters, the command said in a post on social platform X.

Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations, the post said, adding that one male narco-terrorist was killed in the attack.

As of Monday, the Pentagon has sunk more than 29 alleged drug vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean since early September, killing at least 105 people aboard.

For almost four months, the United States has maintained a significant military presence in the Caribbean, much of it off Venezuela's coast, purportedly to combat drug trafficking -- a claim Venezuela has denounced as a thinly veiled attempt to bring about regime change in Caracas.