Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla will meet with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, coming as the communist-ruled island nation faces severe fuel shortages and blackouts due to an oil embargo imposed by the United States.
“The meeting holds special significance given the difficult period that friendly and brotherly Cuba is currently experiencing,” Peskov told reporters at a daily briefing, without specifying what issues would be discussed during the meeting.
Cuba is grappling with its worst energy crisis in years after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on any country that sells oil to it, ramping up his pressure campaign on the communist leadership to implement political and economic reforms.
Cuba, which imports around 60% of its energy supply, previously relied on oil shipments from Venezuela. Those orders were canceled after then-President Nicolás Maduro was captured in a U.S. military raid.
Russia’s Embassy in Havana said last week that Moscow planned to send oil and other petroleum products to Cuba as humanitarian aid.
Asked on Wednesday whether that move could harm Ukraine peace negotiations brokered by the United States, Peskov said he does not “believe these issues are interrelated.”
“Russia has consistently opposed the blockade of the island,” he told reporters. “We value our relationship with Cuba, and we intend to develop it further, certainly by providing the appropriate assistance to our friends during these difficult times.”
Cuba has been allied with Russia since its 1960s socialist revolution, relying on the Soviet Union for economic and political support for decades. The Kremlin has maintained close relations with the Caribbean island after the U.S.S.R. collapsed.
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