The U.S. president assures that anyone can send crude to the Island, despite the sanctions in force until now.
14ymedio, Madrid, March 30, 2026 – U.S. president Donald Trump downplayed the arrival of the Anatoly Kolodkin, loaded with Russian oil , which arrived this Monday in Cuba. “They have to survive! (…) I have no problem,” he said this Sunday in remarks to the press from the presidential plane. The vessel is advancing loaded with about 730,000 barrels of crude without the U.S. having placed any impediment, as University of Texas expert Jorge Piñón told 14ymedio this Sunday and hours later a Washington source confirmed to The New York Times.
“I told them, if a country wants to send oil to Cuba right now, I have no problem with it. Whether it is Russia or not,” said the president, who added that he even “prefers” that this happen. “People need heating and air conditioning, and all the other things one requires,” he said. Trump considered that this does not affect the situation of the Island. “They have a bad regime, they have bad and corrupt leadership, and whether a ship of oil arrives or not, that does not matter,” he concluded.
The statements are surprising after the White House, which suspended sanctions on Russian crude for a month – until April 11 – added a paragraph to the license a week later specifying that Iran, North Korea and Cuba could not be recipients of that oil.
“People need heating and air conditioning, and all the other things one requires,” he noted
The tanker, which transports about 730,000 barrels of oil and belongs to the Russian government, is scheduled to dock in Matanzas around 6 a.m. Tuesday. Then, the crude will have to be transported to the refineries in Havana and Cienfuegos, where the 730,000 barrels will be converted into about 250,000 barrels of diesel, according to Piñón. This fuel would allow supplying the power generators and transportation or agriculture for a few days, although the specialist also believes that the State may reserve a portion.
“Will we be so naive as to think that the Government will not keep a significant amount of diesel for its own reserves, instead of supplying it to those who need it most for their livelihood?” he asked 14ymedio.
The NYT says it has not obtained any clarification on why the U.S. Government has made this decision, after the Sea Horse, flying the Hong Kong (China) flag and heading toward Cuba with 200,000 barrels of Russian diesel two weeks ago, changed course toward Trinidad and Tobago and ultimately docked in Venezuela, coinciding with the addition of the new paragraph to the license that prevented sales to the Island.
The newspaper notes, however, that Trump thus avoids an open confrontation with Moscow, which had spent weeks saying it would look for a way to help Cuba and finally, last week, confirmed that the ship was heading toward the Island as “humanitarian aid” through Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev.
This Monday, at his morning press conference, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that “Russia considers it its duty not to stand aside and to offer the necessary help to our Cuban friends.”
“The desperate situation in which Cubans now find themselves cannot, of course, leave us indifferent, so we will continue working on this matter,” he said.
Peskov, who welcomed the arrival of the Anatoli Kolodkin in Cuba, admitted that the situation had been addressed “in advance” during contacts with representatives of the White House.
Peskov, who welcomed the arrival of the Anatoli Kolodkin in Cuba, admitted that the situation had been addressed “in advance” during contacts with representatives of the White House
The Coast Guard had two patrol boats in the region that could have attempted to intercept the Russian tanker, but this Sunday, when it was confirmed that they had not moved from their position, it was assumed they would do nothing to prevent the operation, as happened with the Bella 1. That ship, which changed its name to Marinera and its flag to Russian in January, was a sanctioned tanker used for transporting hydrocarbons from Russia, Iran, and Venezuela that began to be pursued by the U.S. in December. Despite being escorted by a Russian submarine, the vessel was ultimately boarded and its crew detained, although an agreement between Trump and Putin facilitated the release of the Russian workers.
The last time Moscow sent oil to Cuba was in 2025, in two voyages carried out by the Akademik Gubkin. The first trip took place in February, with about 790,000 barrels, valued at 55 million dollars at that time. The crude had to be distributed to the refineries in Havana and Cienfuegos using the Cuban ships Vilma and Lourdes, to produce the different types of fuel the country needed.
In September, the ship returned to Nipe Bay (Holguín) with about 740,000 barrels of crude to begin the transfer, since the Matanzas supertanker base, which burned in August 2022, is still undergoing slow repairs. Although the reconstruction process of the four main tanks began years ago, at this point none is yet ready to receive fuel.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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