MEXICO CITY, April 2 — Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez thanked Russia and President Vladimir Putin for sending a humanitarian oil shipment, which demonstrates “friendship tested in the most difficult moments” and will allow Cubans to gradually ease the energy crisis, Sputnik/RIA Novosti reported.
On Monday, a Russian tanker carrying 100,000 tonnes of crude oil arrived in Cuba. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the issue of delivering Russian petroleum products to Cuba was raised in advance during contacts with the United States.
“Thank you, Russia. Thank you, President Putin. Thank you, the crew of the tanker Anatoly Kolodkin, whose arrival at a Cuban port with a valuable cargo of fuel brings us confidence in a friendship tested in the most difficult moments, as has happened many times in history,” Diaz-Canel said on Telegram on Wednesday.
He added that Cuba will continue to defend its sovereign right to import fuel “without any interference or pressure.”
“Work is already underway to unload, then process, distribute, and rationally utilise this cargo, which, although insufficient given the acute shortage, will gradually alleviate the situation in the coming weeks,” the president noted.
On January 29, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order authorising tariffs on imports from countries supplying oil to Cuba, and declared a state of emergency due to an alleged Cuban threat to US national security. The Cuban government claimed that the US is using the energy blockade to stifle the Cuban economy and make living conditions unbearable for its population.
