US lets Russian oil tanker approach Cuba despite blockade
March 30, 2026
The United States has allowed a Russian tanker loaded with crude oil to sail for Cuba despite a de facto American oil blockade on the energy-starved Caribbean island, the New York Times reported Sunday.
The Anatoly Kolodkin — which is reportedly carrying 730,000 barrels of crude oil — was just off the eastern tip of Cuba and sailing at 12 knots on Sunday, ship tracking data showed.
It is slated to arrive at the port of Matanzas on Tuesday, news agency AFP reported.
Trump says 'no problem' with Russian oil shipment to Cuba
Reversing his previous course, US President Donald Trump indicated some wiggle room in allowing oil into Cuba.
"If a country wants to send some oil into Cuba, right now, I have no problem whether it's Russia or not," the Reuters news agency quoted Trump as telling journalists on board Air Force One.
Cuba is in the grips of an economic crisis which has worsened since January 3 when Trump imposed a de facto fuel blockade on the island nation after the US ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro — Cuba's main regional ally and energy provider.
Trump has threatened nations with punitive tariffs if they sell oil to Havana, and has also publicly contemplated the possibility of a "friendly takeover" of the Communist-ruled island.
The Russian-flagged tanker would bring the first shipment of oil to Cuba since January 9.
The 9.6 million residents of the island have been plunged into complete darkness on multiple nights due to the severe energy shortage.
Russian oil tanker's journey to Cuba
The Anatoly Kolodkin left the port of Primorsk in Russia on March 8.
The British Royal Navy said in a statement on March 19 that it had dispatched its warship HMS Mersey and a Wildcat helicopter to report on the movements of the tanker.
The British navy said that a Russian naval ship had escorted the tanker across the English Channel before the two Russian vessels separated at the western end of the Channel and the tanker continued to sail into the Atlantic.
In its report on Sunday, the New York Times cited a US official briefed on the matter as saying that the US Coast Guard allowed the sanctioned vessel to sail to Cuba.
The US temporarily eased sanctions on Russia earlier this month to help improve the global flow of oil that has been upended by the US-Israel war with Iran.
Edited by: Darko Janjevic