The Embassy of Russia in Cuba this Sunday denied information about an alleged shipment of oil to the island, in the middle of the oil fence of the Trump Administration.
The diplomatic headquarters assured that this information, attributed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Eurasian country, “is false.”
“The Russian Foreign Ministry has not published any statement of this type,” stressed the Embassy, which recommended that people always obtain information through official sources and channels, and asked them “not to be fooled.”
Although the official note did not make explicit reference to the content of the alleged statement from the Foreign Ministry, it did include an image of the denied publication. It reads about a Russian ship that is currently transporting 200,000 barrels of oil to Havana “in the framework of humanitarian and energy cooperation” between the two countries.
The ship, named Sea Horse and the one that was supposed to arrive in Havana “by the first days of March” would be accompanied by a Russian Navy destroyer, as protection against “any hostile action” by the United States.
The alleged oil shipment
The news about the alleged shipment of a Russian oil tanker to Cuba was not only spread on the networks through the statement attributed to the Russian Foreign Ministry, now denied. It was also echoed in international press media such as Bloomberg and The Financier.
According to these media, the Sea Horse received a transfer of fuel – presumably diesel – from another ship off the coast of Cyprus and its destination would be Cuba.
The reports, which are based on data from the maritime intelligence firm Kpler Ltd., raised the question of whether the Russian ship could break the oil blockade of the US Government, which has already seized several ships transporting oil sanctioned by Washington, mainly from Venezuela.
Moscow, for its part, has not officially reported the shipment of oil or derivatives to the island under the current circumstances, although it has assured that it is evaluating this possibility and has strongly criticized Washington’s growing pressure on Havana, which includes the threat of tariffs for countries that send fuel to Cuba.
The Russian presidential spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, confirmed that his Government has been in contact with the Cuban authorities and that different options for energy support are being evaluated, although he avoided offering public details for “understandable reasons.” The newspaper reported days ago Granma.
However, he ruled out Russia seeking a direct confrontation with the United States over this matter.
His statements responded to information previously published by the Russian media Izvestiawhich noted that Russia was preparing a shipment of oil to send to Cuba, citing Russian diplomatic sources.
