Russia and Cuba Strengthen Economic and Political Ties During High-Level Meeting

Long-standing and high-level political relations distinguish the links that have existed between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Cuba for years. The meeting held on Tuesday afternoon by the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, with Maksim S. Oreshkin, adviser to the President of the Russian Federation, ratified the intention of both nations to bring to that same state the economic, commercial and financial ties.

For us —assured the Head of State— it is a satisfaction to receive him on his first visit to Cuba, which was expected and longed for in our country.

The presence of this Russian delegation in the Greater Antilles, as Díaz-Canel assessed during the talks, is very significant and gives continuity to the exchange of high-level visits that has been held in recent months.

This visit, the president considered, also “marks an intention to follow up, to continue, to all the agreements that we have jointly established, and is one more expression of the deepening of bilateral relations between our governments and our peoples, which are relations historical and are characterized by a high level of political dialogue, agreement on many points of the international agenda, joint support in international forums on various issues”.

We have every intention, he stressed, of bringing economic, commercial and financial relations to the same level as political relations.

During the pleasant dialogue, President Díaz-Canel asked to convey an “affectionate greeting” to his Russian counterpart and thanked “the support that the Russian Federation has given us in the fight against the blockade.”

We feel, he valued, that there is in “the Russian Government, and in particular in President Putin, an enormous sensitivity towards the problems of Cuba.”

In a special way, the Head of State also thanked the support of the “Government of the Russian Federation in the most complex moments that we had in the fight against the pandemic, when they provided us with supplies for health”, and in particular the decisive support during the crisis with the oxygen supply.

“That is a fact that we carry in our hearts, in our feelings and that we will be grateful for all our lives,” he asserted.

For his part, Maksim S. Oreshkin, adviser to the President of the Russian Federation, after thanking the hospitality with which he has been received in Cuba, commented on the preparation days to carry out this visit, as part of which Several “negotiations to determine the steps to be taken in the future” have already been carried out.

In this sense, he referred to the three main work guidelines that have been proposed to strengthen, among which the first sector, he said, is energy, and the second field is the increase in tourist flow to Cuba.

“The third area, the most important sector, which is quite difficult but which will give us long-term results, are the investments of Russian companies and companies in the Cuban economy,” he explained.

Traveling with him, he explained to the Cuban President, were “representatives of various companies that are willing to invest in different sectors of the Cuban economy such as mining, agriculture, tourism, infrastructure and energy.”

In each of these sectors, he assured, negotiations are underway, which began even before his visit, and which will continue in the following days.

As part of the Cuban delegation that participated in the meeting, the Deputy Prime Ministers Ricardo Cabrisas Ruiz, Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, and Alejandro Gil Fernández, Minister of Economy and Planning; as well as other government officials.