Trump admin allows Russian oil tanker to reach Cuba amid ongoing energy crisis
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The US government will allow a Russian tanker full of crude oil to reach Cuba, effectively easing the blockade that has plunged the island into an energy crisis, according to a report.
Russian-flagged tanker Anatoly Kolodkin set out for Cuba on Sunday, carrying an estimated 730,000 barrels of oil, The New York Times reported, citing a US official with knowledge of the matter.
Ship tracking data showed the tanker Anatoly Kolodkin was just off the eastern tip of Cuba on Sunday.
“We’ve got a tanker out there. We don’t mind if someone takes a boatload of them, because they … need to survive,” President Donald Trump told reporters Sunday when asked about the report.
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The US government will allow a Russian tanker full of crude oil to reach Cuba. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)
“Right now, if a country wants to send oil to Cuba, I don’t mind whether it’s Russia or not,” he added.
Trump had tried to restrict oil shipments to Cuba in order to put pressure on his government.
The U.S. government has temporarily eased some sanctions on Russian oil shipments to help stabilize global energy markets amid disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz following U.S. and Israeli military strikes on Iran last month.
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President Donald Trump had tried to restrict oil shipments in order to pressure the Cuban government. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo)
According to tracking services MarineTraffic and LSEG, the Anatoly Kolodkin, which left Primorsk, Russia, may soon dock at the Cuban port of Matanzas if it remains on its current route.
The oil would provide significant relief to Cuba, where President Miguel Díaz-Canel has said fuel shortages have persisted for months, forcing strict rationing of gas and deepening the island’s energy crisis.
The US capture of then-Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in January left the island without an important Cuban ally who was supplying oil on favorable terms.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said that the fuel shortage has been going on for months. (PABLO PORCIUNCULA/AFP via Getty Images)
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The Trump administration then blocked all Venezuelan oil shipments to Cuba and vowed to impose punitive tariffs on any third country supplying shipments to the island, forcing Mexico to halt its exports to Cuba.
Another ship, the Hong Kong-flagged Sea Horse, was also carrying about 200,000 barrels of Russian fuel to Cuba but was rerouted to Venezuela.
