Russia says will continue to help Cuba after first oil shipment arrives | Oil and Gas News

Foreign Ministry representative Maria Zakharova also called on the US to lift its energy blockade on the island nation.

Russia says it will continue to provide assistance to Cuba, a day after a Russian-flagged tanker supplied the island nation with its first shipment of crude oil in three months.

“Cuba is our closest friend and partner in the Caribbean, and we have no right to abandon it. Assistance to Cuba will continue,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a weekly briefing on Wednesday.

Zakharova also said that Russia stands in solidarity with Cuba and demands that the US lift its “blockade on an independent sovereign state”.

Zakharova’s announcement comes a day after US President Donald Trump’s administration allowed the Anatoly Kolodkin to continue despite an ongoing US energy blockade. The Aframax tanker entered the Bay of Matanzas – the country’s largest supertanker and fuel storage port – carrying 730,000 barrels of oil after a three-week voyage from Russia.

Cuba has been suffering from an energy crisis since January when US forces kidnapped Venezuelan President and Cuban ally Nicolas Maduro.

His removal deprived Cuba of one of its most important oil suppliers.

The energy crisis has led to frequent blackouts across the country of 10 million people and brought hospitals, public transport and farm production to the brink of collapse.

Cubans, including Energy and Mines Minister Vicente de la O Levy, cheered the ship’s arrival.

“We thank the government and people of Russia for all the support we are receiving. A valuable shipment that arrives in the midst of the complex energy situation we are facing,” de la O Levy wrote on social media.

Moscow has historically maintained close ties with Havana and has criticized Washington for blocking fuel deliveries to the island.

On Sunday, Trump said he had “no problem” with Russia sending oil to the island, saying he allowed it to go through for humanitarian reasons.

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

The fuel gives Cuba’s government breathing room amid growing pressure from the Trump administration.

Cuba produces barely 40 percent of its required fuel and relies on imports to maintain its energy grid. Experts say the shipment could produce about 180,000 barrels of diesel, enough to meet Cuba’s daily demand for nine or 10 days.