On board the presidential plane — President Donald Trump said Sunday night that he had “no problem” with A.J Russian oil tanker Off the coast Cuba Providing relief to the island, which was brought to its knees by the American oil blockade.
“We have a tanker over there,” Trump told reporters as he returned to Washington. “We don’t mind someone getting a boatload because they need…they have to survive.”
When asked if the New York Times report about allowing the tanker to reach Cuba was true, Trump said: “I told them, if a country wants to send some oil to Cuba right now, I have no problem whether it’s Russia or not.”
Tracking data shows that the tanker, carrying nearly 730,000 barrels of oil, was off the eastern tip of the island on Sunday evening and was scheduled to arrive in the city of Matanzas by Tuesday. Journalists working for Cuban state media also reported the boat’s expected arrival, although Cuban officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The ship Anatoly Kolodkin is under sanctions by the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom following the war in Ukraine.
Trump, whose government has treated its Caribbean rival more aggressively than any US government in modern history, has cut off Cuba from key oil shipments in an attempt to keep Cuba safe. Changing the regime by force. It was a siege Devastating effects on civilians Trump and his Secretary of State Marco Rubio say they want to help, leaving many desperate.
An island-wide power outage has erupted Cubans are already suffering from years of crisis, and shortages of gasoline and basic resources have paralyzed hospitals and disrupted public transportation.
Experts say the expected shipment could produce about 180,000 barrels of diesel, enough to meet Cuba’s daily demand for nine or 10 days.
The island-wide power outage has alarmed Cubans already suffering from years of crisis, and shortages of gasoline and basic resources have paralyzed hospitals and disrupted public transportation.
Cuba has long been at the center of a geopolitical tug of war between the United States and Russia, dating back decades. Trump on Sunday rejected the idea that allowing the ship to reach Cuba would help Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“It doesn’t help him,” Trump said. “He loses one shipload of oil, that’s all. If he wants to do it, if other countries want to do it, it doesn’t bother me too much.” “It won’t have an impact. Cuba is finished. They have a bad regime. They have very bad and corrupt leadership, and whether they get a ship loaded with oil or not, it won’t matter.”
“I would rather let it in, whether it’s Russia or any other country because people need heating and cooling and all the other things,” he added.
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Associated Press reporters Megan Janetsky contributed to this report from Mexico City and Andrea Rodriguez contributed from Havana.