MOSCOW, March 30 (Xinhua) -- Russia will continue working on oil supplies to Cuba as the Caribbean island nation faces a severe energy shortage, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Monday.
"We will continue to work," Peskov told reporters when asked whether additional energy shipments to Cuba could be expected. Earlier in the day, the Russian Ministry of Transport reported that a humanitarian shipment of crude oil carried by a Russian tanker had arrived in Cuba.
Peskov said that Moscow could not remain indifferent to Cuba's current difficulties and would keep working on the issue.
He added that Russia sees it as its duty to provide necessary assistance to Cuba under the current circumstances and that Russia is glad about the arrival of the latest shipment.
The Russian Transport Ministry said Monday that the tanker Anatoly Kolodkin had delivered about 100,000 tons of crude oil to Cuba in humanitarian aid. The vessel is currently awaiting unloading at the port of Matanzas.
Earlier, The New York Times reported that the United States Coast Guard had allowed a Russian-owned crude oil tanker to reach Cuba after months of an oil blockade against the country. ■
