Russia will continue to supply oil to Cuba - report

Russia has repeatedly supplied oil to Cuba in recent years, and will continue to do so, Russia's ambassador to Cuba Viktor Coronelli said in an interview with state news agency RIA.

"We assume that this practice will continue," he said.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday said the United States had begun talks with "the highest people in Cuba," days after declaring Cuba "an unusual and extraordinary threat" to U.S. national security and threatening tariffs on the U.S.-bound exports of any nation that sends oil to the communist-run island.

The U.S. has moved to block all oil from reaching Cuba, including that from ally Venezuela, pushing up prices for food and transportation and prompting severe fuel shortages and hours of blackouts, even in the capital Havana.

-Guy Faulconbridge/Reuters