March 30, 2026

Russian tanker with oil arrives in Cuba for the first time in three months. Before that, Trump stated that he is not against the supply of Russian fuel to the island.

Russian tanker "Anatoliy Kolodkin" brought 100,000 tons of oil to Cuba, TASS reported, citing the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation. The department called this cargo humanitarian. This is the first shipment of raw materials to the island since the start of the energy blockade by the United States, that is, in almost three months. The vessel is awaiting unloading in the Cuban port of Manzanillo. The fuel reserve brought by the tanker will be enough for several weeks, experts previously interviewed by The New York Times said. In January, US President Donald Trump began an energy blockade of Cuba. Washington presented Havana with a whole list of accusations, including "systematic human rights violations", "destabilization of the region", as well as "building close ties with a number of hostile states and unfriendly actors", including Russia, China, Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah. Despite this, on March 30, Trump stated that he is not against the supply of Russian oil to Cuba, as the country needs it "to survive". "If any country wants to send oil to Cuba now, I have no problem with that - whether it's Russia or anyone else," the US president said. Due to the war in Iran and rising energy prices, the US allowed third countries on March 13 to buy Russian oil and petroleum products for a month, which were loaded onto tankers before March 12 and are currently at sea. At the same time, Washington banned deals with Russian oil involving Cuba, Iran, North Korea, and the annexed territories of Ukraine.