The United States Coast Guard is allowing a Russian tanker full of crude oil to reach Cuba, delivering a critical supply of energy to the island nation after months of an effective oil blockade by the Trump administration, according to a U.S. official briefed on the matter.

据一名知情美国官员透露，美国海岸警卫队将放行一艘满载原油的俄罗斯油轮驶入古巴。在特朗普政府实施了长达数月的实质性石油封锁后，这艘油轮将为这个岛国输送关键的能源补给。

The tanker, which is carrying an estimated 730,000 barrels of oil and is owned by the Russian government, was within several miles of Cuban territorial waters on Sunday evening, according to MarineTraffic, a ship-data provider. At its speed of 12 knots, the tanker could reach its expected destination of Matanzas, Cuba, by Monday night.

船舶数据提供商MarineTraffic的数据显示，这艘隶属于俄罗斯政府、载油量约73万桶的油轮已于周日晚间驶至距古巴领海仅数公里的海域。以12节的航速计算，该油轮预计将于周一晚间抵达预定目的地古巴马坦萨斯港。

The Russian ship’s arrival would shift the trajectory of a rapidly accelerating crisis in Cuba, buying the island nation at least a few weeks before its fuel reserves run out, analysts said.

分析人士表示，这艘俄罗斯油轮的抵港将改变古巴国内急速升级的危机走势，为这个岛国在燃油储备耗尽前争取到至少数周时间。

It would also reduce pressure on a Cuban government facing a looming economic collapse and escalating threats from Washington, and show that, at least for now, the island can still depend on its longtime ally, Russia.

此举也将缓解古巴政府面临的双重压力——迫在眉睫的经济崩盘风险及华盛顿不断升级的威胁。这也证明，至少在当下，这个岛国依然可以依靠其长期盟友俄罗斯。

The Trump administration had been enforcing what amounted to an oil blockade around Cuba since January, threatening nations that had been sending fuel to the country and, in one case, escorting a tanker heading toward Cuba away from the island.

自今年1月起，特朗普政府在古巴周边实施了实质上的石油封锁，不仅对所有向古巴输送燃油的国家发出威胁，还曾出动舰船将一艘驶往古巴的油轮驱离该岛。

The Coast Guard has two cutters in the region that could have attempted to intercept the Russian tanker. Yet the Trump administration did not order those vessels to act, according to a U.S. official briefed on the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss operations. Barring orders instructing it otherwise, the Coast Guard planned to let the tanker reach Cuba as of Sunday afternoon, the official said.

美国海岸警卫队在该海域部署有两艘巡逻舰，本可尝试拦截这艘俄罗斯油轮。但据一名因涉及机密行动而要求匿名的知情美国官员透露，特朗普政府并未向这些舰船下达行动指令。该官员称，截至周日下午，除非收到另行指令，否则海岸警卫队计划放行这艘油轮驶入古巴。

It was unclear why the White House did not issue orders to block the tanker or whether it would allow future Russian oil shipments to reach the island. The decision avoids a potential thorny confrontation with Russia just off the coast of Florida.

目前尚不清楚白宫为何未下达拦截这艘油轮的命令，也无法确定美方未来是否会放行俄罗斯向古巴输送石油的其他货运船只。这一决定避免了美国在佛罗里达州近海与俄罗斯爆发棘手的正面冲突。

The Coast Guard referred questions to the White House, which did not respond to a request for comment. Cuban officials also did not respond.

美国海岸警卫队将相关问题转交了白宫，而白宫并未回应记者的置评请求。古巴官方同样未作出回应。

The Russian Embassy in Mexico said in a statement that “the Russian Federation expresses its full solidarity with Cuba, considers all restrictions imposed against it to be illegitimate — including those related to the supply of energy resources — and is prepared to provide all necessary assistance, including material support.”

俄罗斯驻墨西哥大使馆发表声明称：“俄罗斯联邦对古巴表示全力声援，我们认为对古巴实施的所有限制措施均为非法，包括与能源供应相关的限制，同时俄方已准备好提供一切必要援助，包括物资支持。”

The U.S. oil blockade has been choking Cuba, leading to daily blackouts, severe gas shortages, soaring prices and deteriorating medical care. The policy has attracted international criticism, including from the United Nations, that the United States is causing a humanitarian crisis in Cuba. At the same time, White House officials have been threatening the Cuban government publicly, while pushing it privately to remove its president, Miguel Díaz-Canel.

美国的石油封锁已让古巴陷入窒息，国内出现每日停电、燃油严重短缺、物价飞涨、医疗体系持续恶化的局面。这项政策招致了包括联合国在内的国际社会的广泛批评，各方普遍认为美国正在古巴制造人道主义危机。与此同时，白宫官员一边公开对古巴政府发出威胁，一边在私下推动古巴罢免其总统米格尔·迪亚斯-卡内尔。

President Trump said this month that he believed he will “be having the honor of taking Cuba” and suggested that he could target the island with military force after the Iran war. “I built this great military,” he said at an investment conference on Friday. “I said, ‘You’ll never have to use it.’ ​But sometimes you have to use it. And Cuba is ​next, by the way.”

特朗普总统本月曾表示，他相信自己将“有幸拿下古巴”，还暗示在对伊朗的战争结束后，可能会对这个岛国动用军事力量。“我打造了这支伟大的军队，”他在上周五的一场投资会议上表示。“我曾说过，‘你们永远都用不着它’。但有时候，你不得不动用它。顺便说一句，下一个目标就是古巴。”

古巴前总统菲德尔·卡斯特罗和劳尔·卡斯特罗，以及现任总统米格尔·迪亚斯-卡内尔的照片，本月摄于哈瓦那。

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday that the White House wanted new leaders in Cuba. “Cuba’s economy needs to change, and their economy can’t change unless their system of government changes,” he told reporters.

国务卿鲁比奥上周五表示，白宫希望古巴更换领导层。他对记者称：“古巴的经济必须改变，除非它的政治体制发生变革，否则经济根本不可能改变。”

Cuban officials have dug in, saying the nation is prepared to defend itself.

古巴官方立场强硬，明确表示该国已做好自卫准备。

“Our military is always prepared and, in fact, it is preparing these days for the possibility of military aggression,” Cuba’s deputy foreign minister, Carlos Fernández de Cossío, said on NBC’s Meet the Press last week. “We would be naïve if, looking at what’s happening around the world, we would not do that. But we truly hope that it doesn’t occur.”

古巴副外长卡洛斯·费尔南德斯·德科西奥上周在NBC的《与媒体见面》节目中表示：“我们的军队始终保持战备状态，事实上，近期正在针对可能发生的军事入侵做准备。看看当下全球发生的各种事件，如果我们不做这样的准备，那未免太过天真。但我们真心希望，这样的事情永远不会发生。”

The oil tanker now nearing Cuba may change the shape of tensions between the countries. Cuba was quickly running out of energy supplies, relying on solar power, domestic oil production and small fuel shipments to private Cuban businesses to prop up a failing energy grid. The crisis had led to small protests — a rarity in Cuba — and was raising questions of how the government would survive.

这艘即将抵近古巴的油轮或将改变美古两国间的紧张局势走向。此前古巴的能源储备已濒临耗尽，只能依靠太阳能、国内石油产量，以及面向古巴私营企业的小额燃油货运勉强支撑濒临崩溃的能源电网。这场能源危机已引发了小规模抗议活动——这在古巴极为罕见，同时也让外界质疑古巴政府能否维持运转。

But the Russian oil will ease that crisis, at least temporarily. The oil can be refined into various products, including diesel, gasoline, jet fuel and fuel oil, which is used to power many Cuban power plants. That should help stabilize the energy grid, reduce blackouts, improve transportation and aid agricultural production, said Jorge Piñón, a former oil executive who studies Cuba’s energy system at the University of Texas.

但这批来自俄罗斯的原油至少能暂时缓解这场危机。这批原油可被提炼成多种成品油，包括柴油、汽油、航空煤油，以及古巴多家发电厂使用的燃料油。得克萨斯大学研究古巴能源体系的前石油行业高管豪尔赫·皮尼翁表示，这将有助于稳定古巴的能源电网、减少停电、改善交通状况，并为农业生产提供支持。

“It buys them time,” Mr. Piñón said. “But this is not a magic wand that all of a sudden, by the arrival of this tanker, all of their problems are solved.”

“这为他们争取了时间，”皮尼翁说。“但这不是魔法棒，不会因为这艘油轮的到来，就让他们所有的问题瞬间迎刃而解。”

Mr. Piñón said that the oil would take about three weeks to refine into other products and then another week to be distributed around the country.

皮尼翁表示，这批原油需要约三周时间提炼成各类成品油，之后还需一周时间才能分发至古巴全国各地。

Diesel he said, is the most critical product for Cuba, as it powers trucks, tractors and many power plants, and is in desperately short supply on the island. Some humanitarian aid has been trapped at warehouses because trucks don’t have diesel to distribute it, farms have been paralyzed with powerless tractors and some power plants have been shut down because of a lack of fuel.

他表示，柴油是古巴最关键的油品，卡车、拖拉机和多家发电厂都依赖柴油运转，而目前该岛国的柴油缺口已极为严峻。部分人道主义援助物资被困在仓库中，因为没有柴油驱动的卡车进行配送；农场因拖拉机无法运转陷入瘫痪；多家发电厂也因燃料短缺被迫关停。

上个月，哈瓦那湾的一座炼油厂。

Cuba has kept the lights on — albeit inconsistently — because 40 percent of its energy grid is supported by power plants that largely run on crude oil that Cuba produces domestically. Cuba has also been racing to install solar panels to prop up the grid. But Mr. Piñón said that 40 percent of the grid depends on smaller power plants that use diesel.

古巴之所以还能勉强维持供电——尽管极不稳定——是因为其40%的电网由主要依靠本国自产原油的发电厂支撑。古巴也一直在加紧安装太阳能电池板，以支撑电网运转。但皮尼翁指出，该国另有40%的电网依赖以柴油为燃料的小型发电厂。

He estimated that Cuba could use up the Russian oil in less than a month. But he expected the government to preserve some energy supplies for its strategic reserves and security forces.

他估算，这批来自俄罗斯的原油不到一个月就会消耗殆尽。但他预计，古巴政府会为战略储备和安全部队留存一部分能源供应。

“This is going to give diesel to the police, to the military units, to basically the whole apparatus of the Cuban government,” he said.

“这批油品将为古巴警方、军队单位，乃至古巴政府的整个国家机器提供柴油保障，”他说。