Russia plans to send a second ship carrying oil to Cuba, the Russian energy minister has said, as the Caribbean nation struggles under a crippling United States blockade.

Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev said on Thursday that the cargo was being loaded and would be brought to Cuba.

“Cuba is in a total blockade; it’s been cut off. Whose shipment of oil made it? A Russian vessel broke through the blockade,” Tsivilev said, referring to a first Russian tanker that reached the island earlier this week.

“A second one is being loaded right now. We will not leave Cubans alone in trouble.”