US President Donald Trump said on Sunday night he has “no problem” with a Russian oil tanker off the coast of Cuba delivering crude to the island affected by an effective US oil blockade.
“We have a tanker out there. We don’t mind having somebody get a boatload because they need … they have to survive,” Trump told reporters as he flew back to Washington.
When asked if a New York Times report that the tanker would be allowed to reach Cuba was true, Trump said: “I told them, if a country wants to send some oil into Cuba right now, I have no problem whether it’s Russia or not.”
The Anatoly Kolodkin, which is carrying 730,000 barrels of crude, was off northeast Cuba on Sunday evening and is expected to dock in the western port of Matanzas by Tuesday, according to shipping tracker MarineTraffic.
The Anatoly Kolodkin is under sanctions by the US, the EU and the UK following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. The vessel was escorted by a Russian navy ship across the English Channel before the two vessels parted ways in the Atlantic Ocean, according to the British Royal Navy.
It would be the first shipment of oil to the island since January, bringing temporary relief to the country of 9.6 million people, which has been experiencing a deepening energy and economic crisis.
The US Treasury Department had explicitly banned Havana from receiving Russian oil deliveries in a general license published on 20 March, adding Cuba to a list of countries blocked from transactions involving Russian petroleum. Trump’s comments Sunday appeared to reverse that policy.
The US sanctions cutting off oil supplies have significantly affected Cuba’s residents, who have suffered from daily power outages and a lack of basic resources as the island is pushed to the brink of collapse.
Experts say the anticipated shipment could produce about 180,000 barrels of diesel, enough to feed Cuba’s daily demand for nine or 10 days.
Trump repeats threats against Cuba’s leadership
While the shipment would give the country some relief, Trump renewed his threats against the island’s government, predicting that it would fail “within a short period of time.”
“Cuba’s finished, they have a bad regime, they have very bad and corrupt leadership, and whether or not they get a boat of oil it’s not going to matter,” Trump said.
“I’d prefer letting it in, whether it’s Russia or anybody else, because the people need heat and cooling and all of the other things that you need,” he added.
Cuba lost its main regional ally and oil supplier in January when US forces seized Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro.
Trump subsequently threatened to impose tariffs on any country sending oil to Cuba and has mused about “taking” the island.
“Within a short period of time, it’s going to fail, and we will be there to help it out,” he said Sunday.
“We’ll be there to help our great Cuban Americans out who were thrown out of Cuba, in many cases, their family members were mutilated and killed by (Fidel) Castro … Cuba’s going to be next.”
President Miguel Diaz-Canel imposed emergency measures to conserve fuel, including strict petrol rationing.
He warned this month that “any external aggressor will encounter an unbreakable resistance.”
Cuba has condemned the US restrictions as an illegal blockade and blamed Washington for the humanitarian crisis. The island has been under a US trade embargo since 1962, which Cuba says has cost its economy hundreds of billions of dollars.
Leaders from several countries and social organisations have warned that Cuba could be on the verge of a humanitarian crisis.
Countries including Mexico, China, Brazil and Italy and non-governmental groups from the United States are among those that have sent aid.
Venezuela’s interim government, led by Vice President Delcy Rodriguez who was sworn in after Maduro’s capture, has not publicly commented on Cuba’s energy crisis.
The Trump administration has said it is working with Rodriguez’s government on Venezuela’s transition.