Russia Sends Oil Tanker to Cuba; OFAC Extends Blockade to Russian-Origin Oil

A Russian tanker carrying approximately 100,000 tonnes of crude oil arrived in Havana on March 30, 2026, as Russia attempted to circumvent the US oil blockade imposed by Executive Order 14380. The US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) immediately announced that Cuba's purchases of Russian-origin oil would also be blocked, extending the energy blockade beyond Western suppliers. Al Jazeera reported Russia was preparing a second tanker shipment for early April 2026. Cuba's President Díaz-Canel had publicly acknowledged ongoing diplomatic talks with the US on March 13, with Cuba entering negotiations under duress as fuel shortages affected transportation, food distribution, and utilities across the island. The standoff represented the most acute US-Cuba confrontation since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis and underscored the geopolitical dimension of the Trump administration's Latin American policy.