PARIS, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Tuesday that an oil tanker sailing from Russia and detained by France in January is now leaving French waters.

In this photo, provided by the French Army on Thursday, Jan 22, 2026, an oil tanker in the Mediterranean Sea that traveled from Russia, is pictured after being intercepted by France's Navy. (Photo: AP)

The tanker, Grinch, is "leaving French waters after several million euros were paid and three weeks of immobilization," Barrot wrote on social media platform X.

According to French media outlet BFMTV, the company that owns the vessel was sentenced by the Marseille judicial court under a plea procedure to a financial penalty involving confiscation.

On Jan. 22, French President Emmanuel Macron said on social media that the French Navy had boarded an oil tanker sailing from Russia and diverted it. He noted that the operation took place on the high seas in the Mediterranean, adding that the vessel was subject to international sanctions and suspected of sailing under a false flag.

However, Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Jan. 30 that the tanker seized by the French Navy had no connection with Russia.