Russia to ship second oil tanker to Cuba, minister says | EUROtoday

Russia will ship a second ship carrying oil to Cuba because the island grapples with a US gas blockade, Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev mentioned Thursday.

Cuba has been affected by an power disaster since January, when US forces kidnapped Venezuela president and Cuban ally Nicolas Maduro. His removing disadvantaged Cuba of its most important oil provider.

Washington then threatened to tariff any nation that bought or offered oil to the island, though it allowed Russia to ship a tanker earlier this week for “humanitarian reasons”.

“A vessel from the Russian Federation broke through the blockade. A second one is now being loaded. We will not leave the Cubans in trouble,” Tsivilev was quoted as saying by Russian state media.

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Moscow traditionally maintains shut ties with Havana and has criticised Washington for making an attempt to dam gas deliveries. Since the blockade started, the communist-run island has endured weeks of blackouts, gas rationing and meals shortages.

A Russian tanker carrying 730,000 barrels of crude arrived within the Cuban port of Matanzas on Tuesday, offering the island with its first oil cargo since January.

US President Donald Trump, whose administration has lengthy regarded Cuba as a hostile regime, mentioned on Sunday he had “no problem” with Russia sending oil to the island.

“Cuba’s finished. They have a bad regime. They have very bad and corrupt leadership and whether or not they get a boat of oil it’s not going to matter,” he mentioned.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)