Caracas, Venezuela - Venezuela on Thursday asked the UN Security Council to hold emergency talks over what it said were "mounting threats" from the US, which has sent warships to the Caribbean.

At UN headquarters in New York, diplomats told AFP the talks would take place on Friday at 3:00 PM.

The foreign ministry said in a statement that US strikes in international waters – which have killed at least 21 people in recent weeks – endangered "peace, security and international and regional stability."

Caracas said it wanted the UN Security Council – on which the US is a permanent veto-wielding member – to debate the issue and "make recommendations to curb any plans of aggression" on Washington's part.

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Diplomats told AFP that Venezuela's request for a meeting was backed by Russia and China, who also have Council veto power.

The US is in "armed conflict" with drug cartels, President Donald Trump said last week in a letter to Congress, asserting legal authority for the deadly strikes so far.

The American military bombed several small boats off the coast of Venezuela, which it says were carrying drugs bound for the US, leading to the 21 deaths. The claims have been contested by the Venezuelan government.

Along with a small Navy armada in the Caribbean, the US has deployed F-35 war planes to Puerto Rico.

Washington has made Venezuela the focal point of what it says is a fight against drug trafficking, even though most of the illegal drugs entering the US originate in, or are shipped through, Mexico.

The US accuses Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of leading a drug cartel, and does not recognize him as the country's legitimate leader, claiming that he fraudulently retained power after elections last year.

Maduro says Trump's true goal is regime change.

Thousands of Venezuelans have joined a civilian militia in response to Maduro's call for bolstering the country's defenses.

Caracas and Washington severed diplomatic ties in 2019.