The vessel, the Anatoly Kolodkin, operating under U.S. sanctions, is the first Russian oil delivery to Cuba since January. Its arrival follows a decision by Donald Trump to permit the cargo on humanitarian grounds, avoiding a potential standoff with Moscow while easing acute shortages that have led to blackouts and fuel rationing.

Residents expressed cautious optimism as the tanker approached the Supertanker Base in Matanzas, a key energy hub east of Havana. Many said the shipment would provide temporary respite but fall short of addressing systemic shortages.

Cuba has faced repeated nationwide blackouts since 2024, alongside persistent scarcities of fuel, food and medicine. The latest delivery is expected to be processed over several weeks before refined products enter circulation.

Energy expert Jorge Pinon of the University of Texas at Austin estimated the crude could yield around 250,000 barrels of diesel, enough to meet demand for roughly 12 days, underscoring the limited scale of the relief. Fome Cubans welcomed the shipment as urgently needed support.

Others described it as insufficient given the depth of the crisis, calling it a symbolic gesture with minimal economic impact.The government is expected to prioritize allocation between electricity generation and transportation, both critical sectors strained by fuel shortages.

Analysts say the oil is unlikely to be used in Cuba’s aging thermoelectric plants, which rely primarily on domestically produced crude.Russia signaled its continued backing for Havana, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stating Moscow viewed assistance to Cuba as a responsibility.

He added that Russia and the United States had been in contact regarding the shipment.Washington maintained that its broader sanctions policy remains unchanged.

The White House described the waiver as a case-by-case humanitarian decision, even as Trump reiterated criticism of Cuba’s leadership and downplayed the shipment’s long-term impact.Cuba’s energy outlook has worsened since the disruption of supplies from Venezuela earlier this year, intensifying reliance on external partners.

Efforts to secure alternative shipments, including discussions involving Mexico, have yet to yield sustained flows sufficient to stabilize the grid.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said Washington would not oppose a shipment from Russia or other countries if intended to alleviate shortages. “If a country wants to send some oil into Cuba right now, I have no problem whether it’s Russia or not,” he said.

Shipping data cited in reports shows a tanker carrying roughly 730,000 barrels of oil nearing Cuba’s eastern coast, with an expected arrival in Matanzas. The vessel is expected to deliver fuel that could yield about 180,000 barrels of diesel, enough to meet the country’s demand for more than a week.

The tanker, identified as the Anatoly Kolodkin, is under sanctions imposed by the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom following the war in Ukraine.

Trump’s remarks come despite his administration’s intensified efforts to restrict oil flows to Cuba in a bid to pressure its government. He has previously threatened punitive tariffs on third countries supplying oil to the island.

The blockade has contributed to widespread fuel shortages, with reports of prolonged blackouts and disruptions to public transport and healthcare services across Cuba.Cuba has long been a focal point of strategic competition between the United States and Russia.

Trump dismissed suggestions that allowing the shipment would benefit Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying the delivery would have limited impact beyond addressing immediate needs.

He said he would prefer allowing fuel deliveries to ease hardship for civilians, citing the need for electricity, heating and cooling as essential services.

These individuals have been instructed to leave the country before their permits and deportation protections are terminated on April 24, as per a federal notice.

The affected migrants were admitted under a Biden-era sponsorship initiative known as CHNV, which aimed to provide legal pathways for migration. However, Trump suspended the program upon assuming office.

It remains uncertain how many of these migrants have secured alternative legal status that would allow them to stay in the U.S.

Background of the CHNV Program

Initiated in 2022 under Democratic President Joe Biden, the CHNV program initially focused on Venezuelans before expanding to include additional nationalities. The initiative allowed eligible migrants and their immediate family members to enter the U.S. with American sponsors and remain for two years under a temporary immigration status called parole.

The Biden administration had advocated that CHNV would reduce illegal border crossings while ensuring thorough vetting of entrants. However, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) criticized the program, stating it had not met its intended goals.

In a statement, DHS officials accused the previous administration of using the program to facilitate job competition between migrants and American workers, compelling civil servants to support the initiative despite evidence of fraud, and blaming congressional Republicans for subsequent border issues.

Potential Exceptions and Further Policy Changes

While the Federal Register’s 35-page notice confirmed the program’s termination, it suggested that some CHNV recipients might be permitted to stay on a case-by-case basis.

Trump is also reportedly reviewing the temporary legal status of approximately 240,000 Ukrainians who sought refuge in the U.S. during Russia’s invasion.

The CHNV program had allowed:

213,000 Haitians to enter the U.S. amid worsening conditions in their homeland.

120,700 Venezuelans, 110,900 Cubans, and over 93,000 Nicaraguans to seek refuge before Trump ended the initiative.

Termination of Other Immigration Protections

Last month, DHS announced the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 500,000 Haitians as of August 2025. TPS, a designation for nationals from countries facing extreme conditions such as armed conflict or natural disasters, had also been revoked for Venezuelans, though this decision is currently facing legal challenges.

Since taking office in January, Trump’s immigration policies have encountered several legal obstacles, raising questions about the long-term future of these measures and their broader impact on affected migrant communities.

Havana (Reuters) – Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi met with Cuban counterpart Miguel Diaz-Canel on Thursday, his last stop on a three-nation Latin American tour aimed at shoring up support among Latin American allies saddled, like Iran, by U.S. sanctions.

Raisi told reporters at a trade forum in Havana early on Thursday that Cuba and Iran would seek opportunities to work together in electricity generation, biotechnology, and mining, among other areas.

“The conditions and circumstances in which Cuba and Iran find themselves today have many things in common,” Raisi said in a conversation with Cuban president Miguel Diaz-Canel. “Every day our relations grow stronger.”

Top officials signed administrative agreements vowing to boost cooperation between the countries’ ministries of justice, and customs agencies, as well as in telecommunications.

Raisi earlier this week visited with leaders of fellow oil-producer Venezuela, where he pledged to ramp up bilateral trade and expand cooperation in petrochemicals. Prior to arriving in Cuba, the Iranian president also met with Nicaragua´s Daniel Ortega in the Central American country.

“Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba and Iran are among the countries that have had to heroically confront sanctions (…) threats, blockades and interference by Yankee imperialism and its allies with a tenacious resistance,” Diaz-Canel told his Iranian counterpart.

“This visit reinforced our conviction that we have in Iran a friendly nation in the Middle East, with which to confide … and talk about the most complex global issues.”

Asked earlier this week about Raisi’s tour of Latin America, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said the Iranian president could speak to his own agenda.

“We don’t ask countries in this hemisphere or any other to choose who they’re going to associate with or who they’re going to talk to or who they’re going to allow to visit,” Kirby said. “That’s for them to speak to. We’re focused on our own national security interest in the region.”

Raisi´s visit comes as Cuba also moves to bolster ties with distant, but critical, allies like Russia and China, both subject to U.S. sanctions.

Diaz-Canel last year also met with the presidents of Russia and China, firming up relations and signing deals to ease the country´s debt burden and secure aid following the devastating impacts of Hurricane Ian, which ravaged the island last fall.

Communist-run Cuba has been under a wide-reaching U.S. trade embargo since shortly after Fidel Castro´s 1959 revolution. Those restrictions, reinforced by then-U.S. President Donald Trump, have contributed to a nearly unprecedented economic crisis that has led to shortages of food, fuel and medicine.

Raisi called his visit with Iran´s key Latin American allies a “turning point” in relations.