MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Normalization of relations between Washington and Havana was one of few "responsible" steps taken by former US presidential administration as the United States should build relations with Cuba based on dialogue, Konstantin Kosachev, the chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Russian upper house of parliament, told Sputnik on Saturday commenting on the new US president's intention to review bilateral ties.
On Friday, White House Spokesman Sean Spicer said that US President Donald Trump’s administration was reviewing US policies on Cuba, emphasizing the issue of human rights.
"It is unclear what it means. Normalization of relations with Cuba was one of the few wise and responsible decisions of the Obama administration," Kosachev said.
Kosachev stressed that many countries including Cuba and the United States have problems in the sphere of human rights, but they should be settled based on a "mutually respectful dialogue, not via blockades or sanctions."
Relations between the United States and Cuba had been frozen since 1961. In December 2014, US and Cuban presidents, Barack Obama and Raul Castro, respectively, announced the beginning of the process of normalizing relations between their countries. Since reestablishing diplomatic ties, the two nations have signed more than 20 bilateral deals on issues such as maritime safety and environmental protection.
