An old Soviet-era Lada car drives past a truck belonging to a private Cuban company (mipyme) parked in front of a gas station with an IsoTank of imported fuel in Havana on March 19, 2026.
Adalberto Roque | Afp | Getty Images
American President Donald Trump said he had “no problem” with a Russian tanker delivering fuel to Cuba, appearing reverse course on his administration’s oil blockade as the island grapples with a worsening energy crisis.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Trump said: “If any country wants to send oil to Cuba right now, I have no problem with that, whether it’s Russia or not. »
His comments come as a sanctioned Russian-flagged tanker, the Anatoly Kolodkin, heads to Cuba with a estimated 730,000 barrels of crude oil.
The tanker is would have is expected to reach port on Monday and is seen as something of a lifeline for the Caribbean nation, which is facing its the biggest test since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Cuba was heavily dependent on oil supplies from Venezuela, but these have been cut off since early January when the United States launched an extraordinary military operation to remove Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
The Trump administration then threatened to impose tariffs on any country sending crude to Cuba, prompting countries like Mexico to suspend shipments. The Kremlin has already shrugged his shoulders Trump’s tariff threats, pointing out that Washington and Moscow “don’t have a lot of trade right now.”
Learn more
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said last week that the island had not received oil deliveries in more than three months. The communist-led country, which said it is in talks with the United States and has sought to significantly increase its solar power output amid a current fuel shortage.
The island of around 10 million inhabitants faces a series of power outages in recent weeks and the United Nations has warned that Cuban hospitals are struggling to maintain their emergency and intensive care services.
“Cuba is finished, they have a bad regime and very bad, corrupt leaders and whether they get a ship of oil or not, it’s not going to matter,” Trump said Sunday.
“I prefer to let it in, whether it’s Russia or anyone else, because people need heat, cooling and all the other things that we need,” he added.
