MIAMI, United States. – Russia is preparing a shipment of oil and derived products to Cuba “in the near future” and under the guise of “humanitarian aid,” according to diplomats from the Russian Embassy in Havana told the newspaper. Izvestiawithout specifying volumes or delivery dates.
If the shipment is completed, Moscow would be challenging Washington, which last week announced additional tariffs on imports from countries that supply oil to Cuba.
In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov confirmed that Russia maintained “intense contacts” with the Cuban authorities and that both parties were studying “possible ways to solve these problems, or at least alleviate them,” describing the situation in Cuba as “really critical,” according to statements. collected by EFE.
Information about the shipment as “humanitarian aid” was initially disclosed by Izvestia and subsequently amplified by other agencies and media. The media recalled that the “last large supply” from Russia to Cuba would have occurred in February 2025 and that then the volume was 100,000 tons, associated with a state credit for 60 million dollars approved by the Russian president.
In parallel with the signs of energy support, the Russian Foreign Ministry has raised its tone against Washington. María Zajárova, spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, stated: “We strongly condemn the illegal restrictive measures regarding Havana, the pressure against the Cuban Government and the citizens of this country.”
This week, Cuban authorities issued a notice to aviators indicating a fuel deficit that would affect the country’s international airports for a period of at least one month (from February 10 to March 11).
This Thursday, the Mexican ships Papaloapan and Isla Holbox arrived at the port of Havana with 814 tons of food as humanitarian aid.
The Papaloapan transported “essential foodstuffs”—including liquid milk, meat products, cookies, beans, rice, tuna in water, sardines, and vegetable oil—as well as personal hygiene items, with a load “of around 536 tons,” while on the Isla Holbox “a little more than 277 tons of powdered milk” were shipped.
The arrival of the shipment occurs in a context of pressure from Washington on the energy supplies that maintain the Cuban regime. However, after the imposition of tariffs by the United States on countries that sell or deliver fuel to Havana, Mexico chose to send humanitarian aid.
This Wednesday, President Sheinbaum said that her government would send a second shipment of humanitarian aid “in the coming days.”
