Charles Mainz

pressure on Cuba's communist government.

While the Kremlin has yet to comment directly on the oil delivery, it had signaled Russia intended to provide humanitarian aid to the island, its ally since the days of the Cold War.

Charles Mainz, NPR News, Moscow.

Russia's Ministry of Transportation said the oil tanker Anatoly Kalotkin arrived in port early Monday.

where it was set to unload nearly three-quarters of a million barrels of crude oil.

The move amounted to at least a pause in a U.S.

fuel embargo against Cuba, buying the island a few more weeks before its fuel reserves run dry.

Over the weekend, President Trump indicated the U.S.

would not block the Russian ship's passage, saying one tanker could help the Cuban people survive, but would do little to ease U.S.

pressure on Cuba's communist government.

While the Kremlin has yet to comment directly on the oil delivery, it had signaled Russia intended to provide humanitarian aid to the island, its ally since the days of the Cold War.

Charles Mainz, NPR News, Moscow.

The Foreign Ministry statement called the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran a pre-planned and unprovoked act of aggression and demanded an immediate return to diplomatic talks.

The ministry also accused Washington and Tel Aviv of falsely hyping threats surrounding Iran's nuclear program to pursue regime change.

and war in the Middle East was in danger of plunging into a cycle of uncontrolled escalation.

The Russian response was in line with its objections to recent U.S.

military pressure against Kremlin allies in Venezuela, Cuba, and elsewhere in the Middle East.

Yet Moscow has thus far stepped back from taking more forceful actions, with the vast majority of its military resources devoted to the war in Ukraine.

Charles Mainz, NPR News, Moscow.

President Trump returned to office vowing he could leverage his relations in Moscow and Kiev to resolve the conflict in short order.