TEHRAN- Russia's Energy Minister emphasized that his country will continue to expand energy contracts with Iran despite the current situation in the West Asia region.

According to IRNA from TASS news agency, Sergey Tsivilyov said on Thursday on the sidelines of the Energy-2026 Forum in the city of Kazan, in response to reporters' questions: Russia does not intend to suspend its energy contracts with Iran, but will continue to develop these contracts based on the principles of fairness and its own technological sovereignty.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Russian Energy Minister stated that Cuba is currently under complete siege and that imports of oil and petroleum products to the country have been cut off, adding: "We will not abandon the Cubans."

He further noted: One Russian tanker has already broken the Cuban siege, and a second tanker is currently being loaded for dispatch to Cuba.

Earlier, the Russian Ministry of Transport reported that the Russian tanker Anatoly Kolodkin, carrying 100,000 tons of humanitarian aid, has arrived in Cuba.

According to the report, the fuel situation in Havana worsened after the United States military operation in Venezuela in January 2026 to arrest Nicolás Maduro, the president of that country. Venezuela was one of the main oil exporters to Cuba.

In February 2026, the US President signed an executive order allowing Washington to impose tariffs on goods from countries that supply oil to Cuba. Subsequently, reports were published claiming that the United States, for humanitarian reasons, has no objection to periodic oil shipments to Cuba by Russia and other countries.

EF/MA