President Donald Trump indicated that he has “no problem” with other countries sending oil to Cuba to help shore up its energy supply, seemingly confirming a report that the United States would allow a Russian oil tanker to circumvent the de facto oil blockade and dock in the Caribbean country.
The New York Times reported that the U.S. Coast Guard would let a sanctioned Russian tanker, dubbed the Anatoly Kolodkin, sail through and reach Cuba. The vessel, which is carrying 730,000 barrels of crude oil, could reach the country as soon as Monday night.
“We have a tanker out there. We don’t mind having somebody get a boatload because they need, they have to survive,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday night. “I told them if a country wants to send some oil into Cuba right now, I have no problem, whether it’s Russia or not.”
Trump was unconcerned about the move potentially helping Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has faced crippling oil sanctions over the war in Ukraine that have since been eased due to energy shortages brought about by the Iran war.
“It doesn’t help him. He loses one boatload of oil. That’s all it is. It’s fine,” he said. “If he wants to do that and if other countries want to do it, it doesn’t bother me much.”
Trump ultimately predicted the oil shipment wouldn’t matter because 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,” he added. “I’d prefer letting it in, whether it’s Russia or anybody else, because the people need heat and cooling and all of the other things that you need.”
The comments show the Trump administration is, at least for now, easing its blockade on oil to Cuba.
Trump previously imposed it in the wake of the U.S.’s capture of former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro, cutting off a key source of supply for the island.
At the time, Trump also moved to financially punish countries selling oil to Cuba, threatening tariffs against any nations that did.
Trump has been monitoring Cuba closely for months, even flirting with a U.S. takeover of the Caribbean country.
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On Sunday night, he told reporters Cuba would be “next” after the hostilities in Iran conclude.
“Cuba’s a mess. It’s a failing country, and they’re going to be next. Within a short period of time, it’s going to fail and we will be there to help it out,” Trump said. “We’ll be there to help our great Cuban Americans out who were thrown out of Cuba and, in many cases, their family members were mutilated and killed by Castro. Cuba’s going to be next.”