Russia’s Putin meets Cuban FM, says US restrictions ‘unacceptable’
Al Jazeera
Meeting comes as White House says it wants to see ‘dramatic changes very soon’ in Cuba, calls government ‘failing’.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has slammed new restrictions imposed by the United States on Cuba as “unacceptable”, as he met Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez in the Kremlin, Russian state news agencies reported.
“This is a special period, with new sanctions,” Putin said on Wednesday, according to Russian state-owned news agency TASS. “You know how we feel about this. We do not accept anything like this.”
In separate talks with Rodriguez, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow is urging the US not to impose a full naval blockade on the island, advocating negotiations instead.
Lavrov called on Washington to “show sound judgement and a responsible approach, and refrain from plans to impose a naval blockade” on Cuba, according to TASS.
He also said Moscow “categorically rejects” that cooperation between Russia and Cuba may be seen to pose a threat to the US or other countries.
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