Russia will continue to support Cuba with oil supplies, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said today, quoted by Agence France-Presse, BTA reports.
Moscow announced its commitment after a Russian tanker delivered the first shipment of crude oil to Cuba in nearly three months earlier this week.
"Cuba is our close friend and partner in the Caribbean. We have no right to disappoint it. Our assistance will continue," Zakharova said, condemning the "unprecedented pressure and threats" by the US against Havana. Zakharova also recalled that the United States has maintained a trade embargo against Cuba since 1962.
The Russian tanker "Anatoly Kolodkin" delivered about 730,000 barrels of crude oil to the port of Matanzas, east of the Cuban capital, earlier this week.
Previously, US President Donald Trump decided to allow Russian deliveries to Cuba despite the embargo in place to avoid a direct confrontation with Moscow and provide temporary relief from the island nation's energy crisis, AFP notes.