MOSCOW, February 12. /TASS/. Russia plans to send a batch of oil and oil products to Cuba as humanitarian assistance, the Russian embassy in that country said.
Russia’s ministry of economic development has recommended Russian tourists refrain from visiting Cuba amid the "fuel emergency" in the country.
"In the near future, it is planned to deliver oil and oil products to Cuba as humanitarian aid," the embassy told the Izvestia daily.
According to the embassy’s post on Telegram, it is in touch with Russia’s Aeroflot airlines and Cuba’s aviation authorities so that Russian nationals could safely return to Russia. Aeroflot promised to organize special flights from Varadero and Havana to Moscow.
Cuba’s already complicated energy situation deteriorated after the US military seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on January 3. The Bolivarian Republic once was a major oil exporter to Cuba. On January 29, the United States signed an executive order making it possible for Washington to impose tariffs on goods from the countries providing oil to Cuba. The document also declared a state of emergency over an alleged threat from Cuba.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla strongly condemned the measures, saying they not only could make Cuba face "a total blockade of energy supplies" but also "violate all principles of international trade," creating "extreme life conditions" for the Cuban people.