Miguel Díaz-Canel “expressed his gratitude to all the Russian parties that made an effort to understand the situation in Cuba and to move forward together.” The document does not address the specific purpose of Igor Szeczyn’s visit.
Russian President Vladimir Putin directly and personally controls all problems and issues related to cooperation between Russia and Cuba
– declared Igor Szechin, according to a statement from the Cuban presidential office.
The Cuban president, whose country is experiencing its worst economic crisis in thirty years, visited Russia at the end of November during his foreign tour, which also included Algeria, Turkey and China. At the end of the tour, he announced that he had signed several crude oil delivery contracts with Russia and Algeria.
The economy of the communist country was equally affected by the coronavirus epidemic, the American sanctions and the insufficiently effective centrally planned economy. People queue for hours for food, fuel and medicine. Since May, power outages have been frequent due to insufficient electricity production.
In February, Russia urgently donated 25,000 tons of grain to Cuba. This was the second such aid within a year.
Cuba announced at the end of December that the two countries intend to strengthen “the strategic partnership” in 2023, “with the common intention of deepening political dialogue and economic, commercial and financial relations and cooperation.”
Cuba has been under an American embargo since 1962, Moscow has been hit with sanctions by the United States, Canada and the European Union since the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
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