Matanzas, Cuba - A Russian oil tanker arrived in a Cuban port on Tuesday to deliver the first crude shipment to the island since January after the US agreed to partially ease its brutal fuel blockade.

The Anatoly Kolodkin, a tanker under US sanctions, was seen entering the port of Matanzas, east of Havana, after sunrise to deliver 730,000 barrels of crude, AFP journalists said.

President Donald Trump's decision to let Russia deliver the oil avoids a confrontation with Moscow and provides temporary relief to a country that has endured blackouts, fuel rationing, and dwindling public transportation.

"It's great that the country is receiving oil because we need it for the crisis we are facing," Yoanna Rivero, a 49-year-old pharmacy worker who was exercising near the port, told AFP.

Russia Bessent hints at huge shift in US-Russia trade relations: "We may unsanction"

Felipe Serrano, a 76-year-old security guard, was waiting for the Russian ship to arrive.

"This is crucial for us to be able to survive because the country has paralyzed," he said.

Trump, who has mused about "taking" communist-ruled Cuba, said Sunday that he did not object to Russia or others sending oil to the island because Cubans "have to survive."

The White House denied that there was any change to US policy.

"We allowed this ship to reach Cuba in order to provide humanitarian needs to the Cuban people. These decisions are being made on a case-by-case basis," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

Cuba was cut off from oil supplies in January after US forces ousted its main regional ally, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, in a violent coup. Trump also threatened tariffs on countries that send crude to the island.

Cubans have endured seven nationwide blackouts since 2024, including two in March. Fuel prices have soared, while persistent shortages of food and medicine have caused humanitarian crisis.

In response, hundreds of people from all over the world participated in a historic aid convoy that arrived in Havana last week.