Russian oil tanker arrives in Cuba after US approval
Russia says an oil tanker carrying 100,000 metric tons of crude oil has arrived in Cuba and will stand by its friends by working on more supplies despite the U.S. blockade of the Communist-run island.
The United States cut off Venezuelan oil exports to Cuba after ousting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Jan. 3, and U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to impose punitive tariffs on any country sending crude oil to Cuba.
But on Sunday, Trump signaled that he was reversing course and expressed sympathy for the energy needs of the Cuban people.
“Right now, if a country wants to send oil to Cuba, whether it’s Russia or other countries want to do that, that’s fine with me,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.
“A boatload of oil, that’s all,” Trump added.
The Russian transport ministry said the Anatoly Kolodkin was waiting to be unloaded at the port of Matanzas.
The Kremlin said it had raised the tanker issue in its talks with the United States, but that Russia felt it was its duty to support its “friends” in Cuba.
“This issue was indeed raised in advance in our contacts with our American partners,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Cuba has not received oil tankers in three months, and the energy crisis has caused power outages for 10 million people across the country, according to President Miguel Diaz-Canel.
Health officials say the crisis increases the risk of death for cancer patients, especially children.
Cuba became dependent on the Soviet Union for oil after the communist revolution in 1959 and requires imported fuel oil and diesel to produce energy.
Asked whether further Russian shipments would continue, Peskov said: “In the desperate situation in which the Cubans find themselves now, this of course cannot leave us indifferent, so we will continue to work on it.”
LSEG ship tracking data showed that the Russian tanker left Russia’s Baltic Sea port of Primorsk on March 8 and is currently sailing along the northern coast of Cuba.
with DPA
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