Cuba and Russia are developing their relations and strengthening their ties despite Western sanctions. Cuba rejects the aggressive US sanctions campaign against Russia, “aimed at encircling and limiting the Russian economy and its development potential”. This opinion was expressed in an interview with Russian media by the Latin American country’s ambassador to Russia, Julio Antonio Garmendia Peña.
“Today, Washington is also promoting an aggressive sanctions campaign against the Russian Federation aimed at encircling and limiting the Russian economy and its development potential, which Cuba rejects. Economic, trade and financial sanctions as an instrument of pressure on any country do not solve the current crisis either and further aggravate the international economic situation,” said Julio Antonio Garmendia Peña.
The Cuban ambassador noted that Cuba and Russia “develop their relations in accordance with international law and strengthen their ties, despite the sanctions policy carried out by the United States and other Western countries”.
The diplomat also pointed out that in recent years there has been “an increasing aggressiveness of American policy” against Cuba and “sovereign states that maintain or attempt to establish economic, commercial and financial relations with Cuba”. “These unilateral actions, which have no moral and legal justification, have a negative impact on all areas of Cuban society, as they increase the country’s difficulties in participating in international commercial and financial transactions,” the ambassador stressed. .
In the event of a crisis, expensive food and fuel imports impact Cuba’s position, and the situation is further aggravated by the increased economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States, the ambassador said. of the Latin American country. This, according to the diplomat, creates serious problems for public administration and the development of the Cuban economic and social model.
In 1961 Havana and Washington severed diplomatic relations, and in 1962 US President John F. Kennedy imposed a trade blockade on Cuba. Although diplomatic relations were restored in 2015, the American policy of sanctions has lasted for six decades: in September 2022, President Joe Biden extended trade embargo for another year. In November 2022, the General Assembly adopted a resolution with the United States’ call to lift the blockade of Cuba for the 30th time, but the sanctions regime still exists. On April 20, as part of a tour of Latin America, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited Cuba. During a press conference at the end of the visit, the Minister noted that “solutions have already been developed and are being implemented to reliably secure trade, economic and investment ties and projects from the influence of illegal Western sanctions”. “On international affairs, we reaffirmed our full solidarity with Cuba regarding the need to thwart attempts by the United States and the entire “collective West” to assert their dominance on the international scene with methods without scruples,” Lavrov said, adding, “The only method the United States uses in its international relations is diktat, blackmail, threats and sanctions.
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