VATICAN CITY — Squeezed by the Trump administration and facing its greatest threat in decades, the Cuban government is seeking the intercession of a higher authority: the Vatican.

In senior-level meetings, including with Pope Leo XIV, Cuban officials have petitioned the Vatican to serve as an interlocutor with the United States. The goal is to facilitate talks and secure an easing of the White House pressure campaign to isolate Cuba through a de facto oil blockade that is causing crippling fuel shortages and worsening blackouts, according to several people familiar with the talks.