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Havana (AFP) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov thanked the Cuban government this Thursday in Havana for its “full understanding” of the conflict in Ukraine, at the beginning of a visit to the island that seals his tour of Latin America.
“We appreciate that from the very beginning of the special military operation our Cuban friends (…) have clearly stated their position and expressed their full understanding in their assessments of the reasons that led to the current situation,” Lavrov said during a meeting with his Cuban counterpart, Bruno Rodríguez, according to the Telegram account of the Moscow Foreign Ministry.
Lavrov, who also met this Thursday with President Miguel Díaz-Canel and the leader of the revolution Raúl Castro, condemned the “illegal and illegitimate” United States embargo against Cuba, and said that his country “has also been subject to sanctions Americans (…) long before current events”.
Together with Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, we received the chancellor of #Russia, Sergei Lavrov. We reaffirm the priority that our governments give to historic ties of friendship ???? and the will to continue deepening bilateral ties in sectors of mutual interest. pic.twitter.com/AbWwhv1xLo
— Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez (@DiazCanelB) April 20, 2023
The head of Russian diplomacy arrived in Havana the night before, when the United States illuminated its embassy in this capital, located on the busy boardwalk, with the yellow and blue colors of the Ukrainian flag.
Lavrov concludes on the island a journey that began on Monday in Brazil and then took him to Venezuela and Nicaragua.
US sanctions
Cuba has been the subject of an economic embargo by Washington for more than 60 years, hardened by Donald Trump when he came to power in 2017, without his successor Joe Biden having reversed these sanctions, while Moscow was sanctioned by the United States, Canada and the European Union since it invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
For his part, Rodríguez “rejected the sanctions against Russia.” Some that he pointed out “remarkably aggravate the current situation,” according to a statement from the meeting released by the Cuban Foreign Ministry.
He also stressed that the expansion of NATO is “the main cause of the conflict in Europe” and “advocated for a serious, constructive and realistic diplomatic solution to the current crisis, which guarantees security, peace and regional and international stability”.
The Díaz-Canel government has maintained a neutral position in the face of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with repeated calls to find a negotiated solution to the conflict.
with AFP
