US Permits Russian Tanker to Deliver Crude Oil to Cuba
The vessel, hauling an estimated 730,000 barrels of crude oil, is expected to berth at Cuba's Matanzas terminal by Tuesday. The delivery offers the island a vital energy reprieve, buying its government several additional weeks before fuel stockpiles run dry, the Times reported.
Beyond its immediate energy impact, officials noted the shipment would also ease mounting political pressure on Havana, which is staring down both economic collapse and escalating hostility from Washington — while signaling that Russia remains a dependable partner for the Castro-era government.
Washington imposed its oil embargo on Cuba in January, threatening any nation supplying the island with fuel. The blockade has devastated everyday life there, triggering rolling power blackouts, acute fuel shortages, skyrocketing prices, and a sharp deterioration in healthcare, the Times found. The United Nations has since condemned the policy, holding the US directly responsible for triggering a humanitarian emergency.
Despite the US Coast Guard deploying two cutters to the area — vessels capable of intercepting the incoming tanker — the Trump administration issued no orders to halt the ship. The White House offered no explanation for the decision, nor any indication of whether future Russian oil deliveries would be similarly tolerated.
The passive response is widely seen as a calculated move to sidestep a potentially explosive standoff with Russia — at least for the time being.
The episode unfolds against a backdrop of increasingly bellicose rhetoric from Washington toward Havana. President Donald Trump has openly signaled military ambitions toward the island, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio has called for sweeping political transformation in Cuba.
"I built this great military," Trump said at a Friday news conference. "I said, 'You'll never have to use it.' But sometimes you have to use it. And Cuba is next, by the way."
Rubio echoed that posture in a formal statement: "Cuba's economy needs to change, and their economy can't change unless their system of government changes."
Cuban officials, meanwhile, have refused to capitulate — making clear the nation is braced for whatever may come.
"Our military is always prepared and, in fact, it is preparing these days for the possibility of military aggression," Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio told NBC News. "We would be naive if, looking at what's happening around the world, we would not do that. But we truly hope that it doesn't occur."
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