The United States has permitted a Russian crude oil tanker to head for Cuba despite an effective U.S. fuel blockade on the island, according to reporting by the New York Times. The vessel Anatoly Kolodkin, carrying an estimated 730,000 barrels of crude, was located off Cuba’s eastern tip and making roughly 12 knots on Sunday, ship-tracking data showed. AFP reported the tanker is expected to reach the port of Matanzas on Tuesday.
President Donald Trump signaled a change from his earlier posture, saying aboard Air Force One that he had no problem with a country — Russia or otherwise — sending oil to Cuba. The move comes against a backdrop of strained U.S.-Cuba relations and stepped-up pressure on countries that supply fuel to Havana. Earlier this year the U.S. imposed measures that amounted to a de facto fuel blockade after the ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, Cuba’s principal regional energy partner. Trump has also threatened tariffs on nations that sell oil to Cuba and publicly floated the idea of a “friendly takeover” of the island’s Communist government.
Cuba, home to about 9.6 million people, has been experiencing severe energy shortages and repeated island-wide blackouts. The Anatoly Kolodkin would be the first tanker to reach Cuba since January 9.
The tanker left Primorsk, Russia, on March 8. On March 19 the British Royal Navy said it dispatched the warship HMS Mersey and a Wildcat helicopter to monitor the ship, and noted a Russian naval vessel escorted the tanker through the English Channel before the Russian warship and tanker parted company at the western end of the Channel.
Citing a U.S. official, the New York Times reported that the U.S. Coast Guard allowed the sanctioned vessel to proceed to Cuba. The U.S. had eased some Russia-related sanctions earlier in the month to help stabilize global oil flows disrupted by broader geopolitical tensions, including conflicts and heightened frictions involving Iran and Israel.