Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova responded with sharp words Jan. 30 to a question about Donald Trump’s Executive Order to starve Cubans, Gaza style, by imposing tariffs on any nation that sells oil to the Caribbean island. This is “completely unacceptable,” she said, a return to Washington’s long-held policy of maximum pressure “on the Island of Freedom aimed at economically strangling the country.” Russia’s stance remains “unchanged,” she said—imposing these sanctions is a violation of the UN Charter “and of all norms of international law.” Moscow strongly condemns these “illegitimate restrictive measures” against Cuba’s leaders and its citizens.
Pointing to the Executive Order’s mention of Russia and other of Havana’s international partners as “hostile and malign states,” Zakharova warned that “such labeling in no way contributes to normalizing the Russia-US dialogue or improving the effectiveness of Washington’s stated mediation efforts to resolve crises in various regions across the globe.”
