Madrid/Moscow/The friendship between Russia and Cuba is imperishable, declared this Friday the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Sergei Riabkov, maintaining that Moscow will continue to support Havana despite US pressure against the Island. “It cannot be adequately measured in kopeks, dollars or pesos. It is an imperishable value. We value it highly,” the Russian diplomat stressed in an interview with the TASS agency.
Both countries, he recalled, have been interacting for decades “on the entire spectrum of issues aimed at guaranteeing high human development, development of science and education, cultural and human exchanges, development of the arts.”
“Not talking about our common history and solidarity, mutual support, which has always been perceived and continues to be perceived. And Russia maintains its attachment to this policy, especially in the current difficult stage,” he said. In addition, the senior Russian diplomat stressed the demand for an end to US pressure against the Island.
“We insist that the security of Cuba be guaranteed. We demand the end of the blockade of the Island, absolutely illegal and illegitimate”
“We insist that the security of Cuba be guaranteed. We demand the cessation of the blockade of the Island, absolutely illegal and illegitimate. And I am sure that the results that Washington hopes to achieve with this blockade will continue to be achieved,” he said.
The oil tanker sanctioned by the US and the European Union Anatoly Kolodkin, loaded with 100,000 tons of crude oilarrived in Matanzas on Tuesday, in what was the first shipment of oil to arrive on the Island in three months, after the oil blockade imposed by the United States at the end of January. “This valuable aid comes in the midst of the energy siege imposed by the United States, which tries to suffocate the Cuban population,” said the Havana Foreign Ministry on the X social network.
The president of the United States, Donald Trump, had downplayed the importance of Moscow breaking the blockade imposed by Washington and dismissed the idea that the arrival of crude oil to Cuba would have any impact on the current situation on the island. “It doesn’t bother me (…) they have a bad regime, they have bad and corrupt leadership, and whether or not an oil ship arrives, that doesn’t matter,” said the president.
This Thursday, the Russian Energy Minister, Sergei Tsiviliev, reported that, after having sent the Anatoly Kolodkinyour Government prepares a second shipment of crude oil to Cuba. “We will not abandon the Cubans,” Tsiviliov told local press at an energy forum held in the city of Kazan.
Cuba needs about 100,000 barrels daily to satisfy its energy needs, of which about 40,000 come from its national production, which basically only serves to operate its obsolete thermoelectric plants. The inability to cover the rest of the demand has resulted in long daily blackouts and the almost total paralysis of the economy.
