A Russian tanker full of crude oil approached Cuba on Monday, and the Trump administration said it would allow the fuel delivery, after months of a de facto U.S. oil blockade that has helped plunge the energy-starved nation into a humanitarian crisis.

周一，一艘满载原油的俄罗斯油轮驶近古巴，特朗普政府表示将放行这批燃油交付。此前美国实施了长达数月的事实上的石油封锁，已让这个能源匮乏的国家陷入人道主义危机。

The tanker, which is carrying an estimated 730,000 barrels of oil, was skirting the northern Cuban coastline and approaching its destination of Matanzas on Monday morning, according to MarineTraffic, a ship-data provider.

船舶数据提供商MarineTraffic的数据显示，这艘载油量约73万桶的油轮于周一早晨沿着古巴北部海岸线航行，正驶向目的地马坦萨斯港。

The fuel shortage has crippled essential services, including Cuba’s health care system. The U.S. ban on foreign oil imports has been seen as a strategy by the Trump administration to bring Cuba’s government to its knees.

燃油短缺已导致古巴包括医疗系统在内的基础公共服务陷入严重瘫痪。美国对古巴的境外石油进口封禁被视为特朗普政府为迫使古巴政府屈服而采取的策略。

While significant, the oil aboard the Russian tanker would provide Cuba only a few weeks’ worth of fuel, experts said.

专家表示，尽管这批原油意义重大，但这艘俄罗斯油轮所载的石油仅能满足古巴几周的燃料需求。

本月哈瓦那发生的一次大停电。

What is driving Cuba’s energy crisis?

古巴能源危机的根源是什么？

Cuba largely relied on Venezuelan and Mexican oil, but shipments stopped in January after the United States captured Venezuela’s president and took control of its oil exports. The Trump administration also said it would impose tariffs on countries that tried providing fuel to Cuba, keeping Mexico from sending oil.

古巴此前的石油供应主要依赖委内瑞拉和墨西哥，但今年1月美国扣押委内瑞拉总统、掌控该国石油出口后，相关供油便宣告中断。特朗普政府还宣称，将对任何试图向古巴输送燃油的国家加征关税，这一举措使得墨西哥无法向古巴输送石油。

President Trump has said he believes he’ll “have the honor of taking Cuba,” and in negotiations with Cuban officials, his administration has signaled that Cuba’s president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, should resign.

特朗普总统曾表示，他相信自己将“有幸拿下古巴”。在与古巴官员的谈判中，特朗普政府已明确释放信号，要求古巴国家元首米格尔·迪亚斯-卡内尔辞职。

The Cuban government has condemned the Trump administration for trying to push Cuba toward economic collapse, and Mr. Díaz-Canel, the leader of a Communist regime that has ruled Cuba for more than 65 years, said “surrender is not an option.”

古巴政府谴责特朗普政府蓄意将古巴推向经济崩溃的边缘。执掌古巴超过65年的共产党政权领导人迪亚斯-卡内尔明确表态，“投降绝无可能”。

On Sunday night, after The New York Times reported the U.S. administration’s intention to let the oil shipment reach Cuba, Mr. Trump suggested it was a humanitarian gesture.

周日晚间，在《纽约时报》率先报道美国政府有意放行这批运抵古巴的石油后，特朗普称此举是一项人道主义举措。

“We don’t mind having somebody get a boatload, because they need — they have to survive,” he told reporters. “If a country wants to send some oil into Cuba right now, I have no problem with that. Whether it’s Russia or not.”

他对记者表示：“我们不介意有人运去一船石油，因为他们需要，他们得生存。如果有国家现在想给古巴送点石油，我都没有意见。不管是不是俄罗斯，”他告诉记者。

Asked on Monday if the administration would allow more tankers to reach Cuba, Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said “these decisions are being made on a case-by-case basis right now.”

周一，当被问及政府是否会放行更多驶往古巴的油轮时，白宫新闻秘书卡罗琳·莱维特表示，“目前这些决定都在根据具体情况逐案作出”。

On Monday, Dmitri S. Peskov, the spokesman for President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, said the fuel shipment had been raised in advance with the United States.

周一，俄罗斯总统普京的发言人德米特里·佩斯科夫表示，这批燃油运输事宜已提前与美方进行了沟通。

Russia, he added, has an obligation to “provide the necessary aid to our Cuban friends.”

他还说，俄罗斯有义务“向我们的古巴朋友提供必要的援助”。

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Mr. Peskov’s statement.

针对佩斯科夫的相关表态，白宫未立即回应记者的置评请求。

港口城市马坦萨斯，人们正在等候公交车。预计那艘俄罗斯油轮将抵达这里。

Why is the U.S. allowing this shipment?

美国为何放行此次运输？

It is unclear why the United States allowed a Russian shipment while countries like Mexico, which have been eager to help Cuba, have been prevented from sending tankers after Mr. Trump threatened tariffs.

目前尚不清楚为何美方会放行俄罗斯的这批运输，而墨西哥等迫切希望向古巴伸出援手的国家却遭特朗普以加征关税相威胁，被阻止派出油轮。

The shipment could signal that the United States did not want to make the Cuban people suffer even more, experts said. But they also said that the pressure campaign against Cuba has likely been sidelined by the war in Iran.

专家表示，此次放行或许表明美方不愿让古巴民众承受更多苦难。但他们同时指出，针对古巴的极限施压行动很可能已因伊朗战事被暂时搁置。

“Cuban society and infrastructure is so hampered right now that there is a real risk of a complete breakdown that would not be in anybody’s best interests,” said Pedro A. Freyre, the chair of international practice at Akerman, a law firm in Miami, and an expert on U.S.-Cuba policy. “That’s a bridge too far.”

迈阿密阿克曼律师事务所国际业务部负责人、美古政策专家佩德罗·弗雷尔表示：“古巴的社会运转与基础设施目前已严重失灵，存在彻底崩溃的切实风险，而这不符合任何人的最佳利益。这已经走得太远了。”

The Iran war, he added, had likely extended the timeline for the Trump administration’s plans on Cuba.

他还说，伊朗战事很可能拉长了特朗普政府对古巴行动的计划时间表。

“There is a palpable delay,” he said. “The process is stalled.”

“延迟是显而易见的，”他说。“整个进程已经陷入停滞。”

For some Cubans, the Russian fuel provided a rare bit of good news.

对部分古巴民众而言，这批来自俄罗斯的燃油带来了难得的一丝好消息。

“Hopefully the worst is over,” said Aldo Alvarez, who runs a delivery business in Cuba.

“希望最艰难的日子已经过去了，”在古巴经营配送生意的阿尔多·阿尔瓦雷斯说。

But other Cubans saw the planned oil arrival as a temporary patch potentially delaying the collapse of a regime they loathed.

另一些古巴民众则认为，计划中的石油抵港只是权宜之计，很可能会延缓他们所憎恶的这个政权的垮台。

“It provides more desperation to the people who just crave for a complete change here,” said Giovanny Fardales, a translator in Havana who has been waiting weeks to purchase gas for his car and diesel for his home generator. “Nobody wants more oil arriving, everybody wants this system to collapse, no more Communism, period.”

哈瓦那的翻译乔瓦尼·法达莱斯已经等了数周，想要为自己的汽车购买汽油、为家用发电机采购柴油。他说：“对于那些迫切希望这里发生彻底变革的人来说，这批石油只会让他们更加绝望。没人希望更多石油运进来，所有人都希望这个体制垮台，终结共产主义，就这样。”

本月哈瓦那发生停电时的情景。

Is the shipment going to make a difference?

这批石油能改变现状吗？

Roughly 40 percent of Cuba’s energy grid is sustained by power plants that largely run on crude oil that Cuba produces domestically. But Cuba relies on foreign fuel to power much of its economy, including factories and farms.

古巴约40%的电网由主要依靠本国自产原油的发电厂支撑。但该国经济的大部分环节，包括工厂与农场的运转，都依赖境外进口燃油。

The halt of oil shipments has caused food shortages, brought water pumps that operate on fuel to a halt, ratcheted up gasoline prices, forced hospitals to cancel surgeries and shut down lifesaving equipment like dialysis machines and incubators.

石油运输的中断已导致古巴出现食品短缺，燃油驱动的水泵全面停摆，汽油价格大幅飙升，医院被迫取消手术，透析机、婴儿保温箱等救命设备也被关闭。

The Russian fuel is “not a solution in the face of the extreme fuel shortage,” said Ricardo Torres, an economist at the American University in Washington who specializes in Cuba.

华盛顿美利坚大学专攻古巴问题的经济学家里卡多·托雷斯表示，面对古巴极端严峻的燃油短缺局面，这批来自俄罗斯的石油“并非解决之道”。

Mr. Trump said the oil shipment would not make much of a difference for Cuba in the long run.

特朗普则表示，从长远来看，这批石油运输不会给古巴带来多大改变。

“Cuba is finished,” he said. “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.”

“古巴已经完了。”他说，“他们的政权糟糕透顶，领导层非常恶劣，而且腐败。无论能不能拿到一船石油，都不会有影响。”