Yesterday, Russian President, Vladimir Putin, and his Cuban counterpart, Miguel Díaz-Canel, who is visiting Moscow, showed a united front against the “Yankee empire”, the USA, which the Cuban President called a “common enemy”.

Diaz-Canel is one of the few foreign leaders to visit Russia since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has been condemned around the world.

The tone of the two leaders’ statements recalled the Cold War period, when Cuba was at the center of the confrontation between the US and the then Soviet Union.

The Soviet Union, later Russia, always supported the Cuban people in their struggle for independence, and their sovereignty, Putin told the Cuban President at the start of a press conference held by the two leaders.

The Cuban people have always been against various types of restrictions, embargoes, and blockades, the Russian President added, as Moscow has been subject to unprecedented international sanctions since late February due to its invasion of Ukraine. The Russian President was pleased to see Cuba adopt the same attitude towards his country.

The two leaders also unveiled in Moscow a statue of Fidel Castro, who ruled Cuba for nearly 50 years and died in 2016. Putin hailed a brilliant man who was able to analyze any global development. Díaz-Canel, who has been in power since 2019, has for his part condemned US imperialism, which Castro has always hated.

Despite a relative relaxation in relations between Washington and Havana in recent years, American-Cuban relations are still marked by deep differences, especially in terms of immigration.

The Cuban President is on a 10-day tour, with stops in Algeria, Russia, Turkey, and China last week to boost the island nation’s energy sector, which has suffered from prolonged blackouts and shortages.

Source: APA MPA

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