Cuba awaits sanctioned Russian oil shipment as US signals no objection

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This view shows a tanker ship at the Supertanker Base in the Industrial Zone of the port of Matanzas, Cuba, on March 30, 2026. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images)

HAVANA - Cuba on Monday made preparations to receive a sanctioned Russian tanker transporting about 730,000 barrels of oil, marking the island’s first delivery of its kind this year.

What we know:

It comes a day after U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters he had "no problem" with a Russian oil tanker delivering relief to the island, which has been brought to its knees by a U.S. oil blockade.

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What we don't know:

The exact location of the Russian-flagged Anatoly Kolodkin remained a subject of conflicting reports Monday morning. While the Russian Transport Ministry and the state-run news portal Cubadebate stated the vessel had already arrived, ship-tracking data showed it was still navigating Cuban waters with an estimated docking time of Tuesday.

What's next:

Its final destination is the port of Matanzas, a strategic hub for an island that produces barely 40% of its required fuel and relies on such imports to sustain its energy grid. Experts say the anticipated shipment could produce about 180,000 barrels of diesel, enough to feed Cuba’s daily demand for nine or 10 days.

The backstory:

Trump, whose government has come at its Caribbean adversary more aggressively than any U.S. government in recent history, has effectively cut Cuba off from key oil shipments in an effort to force regime change. The blockade has had devastating effects on the civilians Trump and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio say they want to help, leaving many desperate.

Islandwide blackouts have roiled Cubans already grappling with years of crisis, and a lack of gasoline and basic resources has crippled hospitals and slashed public transport.

What they're saying:

Cuba has long been at the heart of a geopolitical tug-of-war between the U.S. and Russia, dating back decades. Trump on Sunday dismissed the idea that allowing the boat to reach Cuba would help Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"It doesn’t help him. He loses one boatload of oil, that’s all it is. If he wants to do that, and if other countries want to do it, it doesn’t bother me much," Trump said on Sunday. "It’s not going to have an impact. 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."