"Cuba is finished, will fail in short time": Trump

Trump, in his gaggle with the Press on Air Force One en route to Joint Base Andrews, said that it doesn't bother him if countries are sending aid to Cuba while pointing out that his administration will be extending a helping hand to those Cuban-Americans who were thrown out of Cuba under the regime of Fidel Castro who headed the Carribean nation from 1959 to 2008.

"Yeah, Cuba's going to be next. Cuba's going to be. Cuba's a mess. It's a failing country, and they're going to be next. Within a short period of time, it's going to fail, and we will be there to help it out. We'll be there to help our great Cuban-Americans out who were thrown out of Cuba. In many cases, their family members were mutilated and killed by Castro. Yeah, Cuba's going to be next, yeah," Trump said.

When asked about a report that the US is going to let a Russian oil tanker go to Cuba, Trump said, "Well, we have a tanker out there. We don't mind having somebody get a boatload because they need... they have to survive. Who would... it doesn't bother me. Well, I would say I told them if a country wants to send some oil to Cuba right now, I have no problem with it."

When asked if he is worried that Moscow sending oil tankers to Cuba might help Putin, the US President said, "It doesn't help him (Putin). He loses one boatload of oil, that's all it is, it's fine. If he wants to do that and if other countries want to do it, it doesn't bother me much. It's not going to have an impact. Cuba's finished, they have a bad regime, they have very bad and corrupt leadership, and whether or not they get a boat of oil, it's not going to matter. I'd prefer letting it in, whether it's Russia or anybody else, because the people need heat and cooling and all of the other things that you need. Go ahead," he said.

Meanwhile, Former Cuban President Raul Castro is involved in talks between the island and the United States, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel has said, amid soaring tensions between the two states. Diaz-Canel on Wednesday said the talks were in the early stages, as nationwide blackouts continued from an oil blockade implemented by Trump, as per Al Jazeera.

The United States Coast Guard is allowing a Russian tanker carrying crude oil to proceed toward Cuba, potentially easing the island's worsening fuel crisis, The New York Times reported, citing a US official familiar with the matter.

According to the NYT, the tanker, reportedly owned by the Russian government, is carrying an estimated 730,000 barrels of crude oil and was located just miles from Cuban territorial waters on Sunday evening, as per ship-tracking data.

At its current speed, the vessel is expected to arrive at the port of Matanzas by Monday night. (ANI)