Русский
The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, has spoken with Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez and stated that Russia would continue providing the required political and financial support to the country, according to a Russian Foreign Ministry statement.
They said that “The Russian side reaffirmed its principled position that exerting economic and military pressure on Cuba is unacceptable, specifically obstructing energy supplies to the island, which is fraught with a serious deterioration of the economic and humanitarian situation in the country. Firm readiness has been expressed to continue providing Cuba with the required political and financial support.”
Priority issues of bilateral cooperation and the international agenda were discussed in the phone call, it said. Cuba is a BRICS partner state.
The United States President, Donald Trump, has stated he intends to ensure no energy supplies from any country reach Cuba, with his Secretary of State, Marco Rubio (who is of Cuban descent), stating that the country will soon have an economic collapse. The US actions are aimed at removing the current Cuban government and restoring a US-friendly administration to Cuba. The island has been under constant US sanctions for over 70 years.
On a practical level it is hard to see what military support Russia could provide in the face of an American navy so far away from Russia. However, there have been media suggestions that Russia may have equipped Cuba with missiles to ward off any significant American attack. As concerns energy supplies, US vessels could apprehend Russian tankers, although such measures would create difficulties for the United States, as such actions would be illegal if performed in international waters with ships under the Russian flag. Threatening Russia with more sanctions for providing energy supplies to Cuba is also somewhat pointless, as Russia is already sanctioned.
The situation will no doubt develop further.
