Russia pledges further oil supplies to Cuba

Russia will continue helping fuel-hungry Cuba with crucial supplies of oil, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday, two weeks after Moscow sent a tanker with around 700,000 barrels of crude to the Caribbean island.



Washington stopped oil exports to Cuba from its main ally Venezuela after capturing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on January 3, triggering acute fuel shortages across the communist-ruled island of almost 11 million people.



President Donald Trump has threatened punishing tariffs on countries sending crude to Cuba as he seeks to put pressure on the government. The U.S. later allowed the Russian oil delivery to Cuba, this year's first by Moscow, for humanitarian reasons.



Another major supplier, Mexico, halted its shipments.



Lavrov, on a visit to China, said Russia will provide humanitarian aid to Cuba, its long-standing ally.