By Anthony Marcus for Eurasia Business News, March 30, 2026. Article n°2072

US President Donald Trump said that he was not against the supply of Russian oil to Cuba. According to him, one tanker will not globally affect the situation.

“They (the Cubans) must survive. And if one tanker with oil comes to them, there is no problem with this, it does not bother me,” he said.

“Cuba is finished, there is a bad regime, a very bad and corrupt leadership, and it doesn’t matter if they get a ship with oil or not,” the U.S. president told reporters aboard the Air Force One aircraft (quoted by AFP).

The White House says there is no change in Cuba policy despite allowing the Russian tanker to proceed, so the waiver appears to be a narrow, humanitarian-style exception rather than a broader policy shift. The reported move lets the ship reach Cuba with fuel, but it does not signal a new stance toward the Cuban government.

What that means

The key distinction is between a one-time permissions decision and overall policy. Reporting indicates U.S. officials allowed the tanker to dock to help prevent an immediate fuel shortfall in Cuba, while continuing to keep the broader Cuba restrictions in place.

Why it matters

This matters because it suggests Washington is trying to manage an energy emergency without relaxing its pressure campaign on Havana. In other words, the administration can tolerate a limited shipment while still saying its Cuba policy has not changed.

Read also : As Ukraine’s War Enters Its Fifth Year, What to Expect in 2026 ?

The Russian tanker “Anatoly Kolodkin” with 730 thousand barrels of oil on board is in the vicinity of the territorial waters of Cuba. The ship is due to enter the harbor of Matanzas near Havana on the evening of March 30 or the morning of March 31. The delivery will be the first time in three months that a tanker has arrived on an island facing an acute shortage of resources.

The current U.S. pressure campaign on Cuba’s oil supply has been described in reporting as lasting for months, not days or weeks, with some sources saying it has been in effect since December 2025.

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© Copyright 2026 – Eurasia Business News. Article no. 2072