US President Donald Trump said he sees no problem in supplying Russian oil to Cuba, which has been without fuel for several months due to the US energy blockade.
He said this when answering journalistsʼ questions about whether the media reports that the US would allow a Russian tanker to deliver oil to Cuba were true.
"We have a tanker there. If someone wants to deliver oil, we donʼt mind, they need to survive. I said: if some country wants to send oil to Cuba, I have no objection," Trump said.
When asked if this helps Putin, the US president replied that Russia will not make money from it. There will also be no benefit for Cuba.
"Let them send it if they want. Whether itʼs Russia or other countries want to do it. It wonʼt have any impact. Cuba is finished, they had a bad regime, corrupt leaders. And one oil supply wonʼt change anything," the US president noted.
The New York Times previously reported that the U.S. Coast Guard has cleared a Russian crude oil tanker to reach Cuba. The vessel, carrying about 730,000 barrels of oil, was near Cuba on Sunday. The tanker is expected to arrive at its destination on Tuesday, March 31.
What is happening between Cuba and the USA?
In late January, Donald Trump declared a national emergency over Cuba and threatened tariffs on countries that supply it with oil. Trump accused Cuba of cooperating with hostile states to the United States, including Russia, China and Iran, as well as supporting the Hamas and Hezbollah groups. According to him, Cuba allows Russian and Chinese intelligence and military facilities to be located there, which monitor the United States.
Trump also said that the Cuban government violates human rights, persecutes the opposition, restricts freedom of speech and suppresses civil society. He stressed that the United States "will not tolerate the actions of the communist regime in Cuba."
The Cuban government responded by saying that the United States posed a threat to the country and declared an international emergency.
On March 6, Trump said that the Cuban government was “soon to fall” and that he wanted to make a deal with it. Trump also said that he intended to make US Secretary of State Marco Rubio his deputy in Cuba.
On March 19, the FT reported that Russia had sent two tankers carrying oil and gas to Cuba, despite US restrictions, the first fuel deliveries to the island in three months.