Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev says Moscow will help Cuba find other supplies of oil and petroleum products.
Medvedev pledged to help develop Cuba's energy sector during a visit to the island this week, but did not announce any short-term measures to provide relief for the island from crippling fuel shortages in the wake of tougher U.S. sanctions.
Shipments from Venezuela gave Cuba some respite this week. But the support from two of its closest allies looks unlikely to resolve Cuba's pressing fuel problems, which have seen the government extend many of the energy-saving measures it has introduced over the past month.
"I think we will find other ways to help Cuba get oil and petroleum products," Medvedev told Rossia-1 TV on October 5 when asked if Russian ships could escort oil tankers to Cuba.
"We discussed this today and agreed that we would draft a work plan for energy supplies to Cuba, bearing in mind conventional energy sources, hydrocarbons, and maybe some other available avenues," he said.
Havana said on September 11 that it had not secured sufficient shipments of refined fuels such as gasoline and diesel for the rest of the month due to sanctions imposed by the United States in retaliation for its support for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
