Russian officials and media gave prominence to today’s quick visit to Moscow by Cuban Minister of Foreign Affairs Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, in town as a Special Envoy of his President, Miguel Diaz-Canel. His day began with a reception at the State Duma (the lower house of Russia’s parliament), with Duma First Deputy Chairman Iván Melnikov leading the talks. Separate working meetings then followed, first with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and then with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova began her weekly briefing today by announcing Rodríguez’s visit. “Cuba is Russia’s close friend and strategic partner…. We express our firm solidarity with Havana in the face of unprecedented economic pressure and power play. We will continue assisting and supporting the brotherly Cuban nation,” she stated. The Foreign Ministry would live stream the opening remarks at that meeting, she reported.
Lavrov opened his remarks by noting that Rodríguez had a “very busy program” of “intensive talks” scheduled during this trip, with the agenda including matters of “trade, the economy, investment and finance.” He excoriated the United States decision to “toughen its inhuman and illegitimate actions after a more than 70-year long blockade,” the which are furthermore being justified on the basis of “far-fetched allegations” that Russia and Cuba, and their cooperation with each other, threaten U.S. security interests. (That is the official pretext for President Trump’s Executive Order that all countries must stop supplying oil to Cuba or face U.S. economic retaliation.)
