The possibility of a showdown between the United States and Russia is looming as a Russian tanker laden with oil steams toward Cuba and a U.S. blockade.
The Anatoly Kolodkin has 730,000 barrels of oil aboard, according to Politico, and is heading for the Cuban port of Matanzas. It could arrive in two to three days, Michelle Wiese Bockmann, a senior maritime intelligence analyst at Windward AI, said.
The Kolodkin was escorted through the English Channel by the Russian navy, but since then the tanker has been on its own.
Politico reported that former Trump administration officials expect the tanker to be stopped, but that current administration officials are keeping quiet about what the U.S. will do.
Russia has not said for certain that it plans to test the blockade and create the biggest showdown since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, preferring to drop hints wrapped in bland statements of support for Cuba, which has been under an oil blockade ever since American forces captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. Cuba relied on Venezuelan oil, which has been cut off since January.