“I am absolutely convinced that nothing threatens our close, partner and strategic relations with Cuba. We see no signs that someday everything will be different,” Lavrov said in an interview broadcast by Russia’s Rossiya-1 television channel.
The Russian foreign minister also pointed out that over the past years Russia has repeatedly called on the United States to normalize its relations with Havana.
In December 2014, US President Barack Obama announced his new policy of improving bilateral relations with Cuba, which includes easing travel and trade restrictions as well as reopening a US embassy in Havana.
Washington is yet to commit to fully lifting the trade embargo imposed on Cuba in the 1960s. The US sanctions were introduced after the nationalization of over $1 billion-worth of US assets on the island.
Since 1992, the UN General Assembly has annually adopted resolutions condemning the commercial, economic, and financial embargo on Cuba.
Russia and Cuba have long maintained friendly and productive bilateral relations. In 2014, during a visit to Havana, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his decision to write off Cuba’s debt to the Soviet Union and invest in the country’s offshore industry. The two countries have also recently enhanced economic, political, energy and trade cooperation. The island nation is one of Russia's key allies in Latin America, with the trade turnover between the two countries exceeding $200 million in 2013.
