President Donald Trump said Sunday night that he has “no problem” with a Russian oil tanker bringing fuel relief to Cuba, even as the United States maintains sanctions that have helped cut off key oil shipments to the island. Trump made the remarks aboard Air Force One as he flew back to Washington, responding to questions from reporters about a Russian vessel that was expected to reach Cuba with oil.

Trump said: “We have a tanker out there. We don’t mind having somebody get a boatload because they need… they have to survive,” according to the Associated Press account of his exchange with reporters. When asked whether a New York Times report that the tanker would be allowed to reach Cuba was true, Trump responded that he would not object to a country sending oil to the island. “I told them, if a country wants to send some oil into Cuba right now, I have no problem whether it’s Russia or not,” Trump said.

On Monday, Russia’s Transport Ministry said the oil tanker Anatoly Kolodkin arrived at the Cuban port of Matanzas carrying “humanitarian supplies” of about 730,000 barrels of oil, the AP reported. The AP also said the tanker is sanctioned by the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom following the war in Ukraine.

In a statement carried by the AP, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia had previously discussed its oil shipment to Cuba with the United States. “Russia сonsiders it its duty not to stand aside, but to provide the necessary assistance to our Cuban friends,” he told reporters, according to the report.

Trump, whose government has taken a harder line toward Cuba than recent U.S. administrations, has described the U.S. blockade as part of pressure aimed at forcing political change on the island. The AP said the blockade has had “devastating effects on the civilians” Cuba and Washington describe as needing help, including blackouts that have roiled people living through shortages of gasoline and other basic resources.

Experts cited by the AP said the anticipated shipment could produce about 180,000 barrels of diesel, enough to meet Cuba’s daily demand for roughly nine or 10 days. Cuba has faced energy shortfalls and operational disruptions that have affected hospitals and public transport, the AP reported, as people try to cope with ongoing electricity cuts and limited fuel.

Trump also rejected the idea that allowing the Russian tanker to deliver oil would help President Vladimir Putin. “It doesn’t help him. He loses one boatload of oil, that’s all it is. If he wants to do that, and if other countries want to do it, it doesn’t bother me much,” Trump told reporters, according to the AP account. He added: “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,” and said the outcome would not matter because “Cuba’s finished” under “very bad and corrupt leadership,” the report said.

— Associated Press reporters Megan Janetsky contributed to the report from Mexico City and Andrea Rodríguez contributed from Havana.