Russia is sending a second tanker of crude oil to Cuba, a government official said on Thursday, after one sent by the Kremlin reached Cuban territory earlier this week, ending a de facto U.S. oil blockade on the island.
For nearly three months, the United States blocked countries from dispatching oil to Cuba as President Trump threatened to take over the country and to issue tariffs against nations that shipped fuel there in a pressure campaign to force the Communist government into submission.
“We won’t abandon the Cubans,” Russia’s energy minister, Sergei Tsivilyov, told reporters on Thursday while confirming that his country was preparing to send a second tanker, according to the state news agency Tass.
If permitted by the United States to dock, this second tanker would signal a further softening by the Trump administration amid ongoing negotiations with the Cuban government.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said that the United States would evaluate oil shipments to Cuba on a “case-by-case basis” and that the U.S. Coast Guard allowed the oil to reach Cuba “for humanitarian reasons.”
She added that “there’s been no firm change in our sanctions policy.”
The White House declined on Thursday to confirm whether it would allow the second tanker to dock.
Cuba, which has largely relied on Venezuelan and Mexican oil, has endured energy shortages since January, when the United States captured Venezuela’s president and took control of its oil exports. The shortages have caused frequent blackouts and have crippled Cuba’s essential services, including its health care system and trash collection.
That crisis showed signs of a reprieve on Monday when the U.S. Coast Guard allowed the Russian tanker carrying an estimated 730,000 barrels of oil to reach Cuba, easing the energy crisis for at least a few weeks, analysts estimated.
On Thursday Prime minister Manuel Marrero Cruz of Cuba posted on social media thanking Russia “for the expressions of solidarity and support for our country” amid the “measures of asphyxiation imposed by the United States.”
It remained unclear when the second tanker would leave Russia, and when it was expected to reach Cuba.
The Trump administration has not confirmed whether it will allow countries other than Russia to send oil to Cuba. Last week, Mr. Trump discussed oil shipments with President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico, according to three officials familiar with the matter, telling her he did not want her sending fuel to Cuba yet.
On Monday, Ms. Sheinbaum said during her daily news conference that her government was continuing to explore restarting oil shipments to Cuba.
Cuban officials traveled to Russia this week to discuss bilateral relations.
Alina Lobzina contributed reporting from London and Ivan Nechepurenko from Tbilisi, Georgia.
Emma Bubola is a Times reporter covering Argentina. She is based in Buenos Aires.
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