On Tuesday, Cuba’s President Miguel Diaz-Canel met Russia’s Vice President Yuri Borisov in La Habana to dialogue on bilateral development prospects and economic, trade, and financial cooperation between their countries.
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During the meeting, Diaz-Canel conveyed a cordial greeting to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and reiterated his gratitude for sending over 200 tons of medicines and food for the Cuban people when his country was facing its third COVID-19 wave.
"Russia will continue to support Cuba, which faces the consequences of an illegal U.S. blockade. Before the end of the year, we will send another shipment of humanitarian aid to this brother country,” Borisov stated.
"Our geographical remoteness does not prevent the mutual sympathy and respect that unite our peoples," Diaz-Canel insisted, stressing that both governments share the same principles about international law and justice.
Borisov also dialogued with Cuba’s Council of Ministers Vice President Ricardo Cabrisas and members of the Russian-Cuban Intergovernmental Commission on economic cooperation.
Both sides agreed to strengthen trade agreements to extract Cuban oil reserves at the Mexico Gulf and increase direct flights from Russia to promote tourism to the Caribbean nation.
"We are interested in Cuban production. We must allow our entrepreneurs to discover its coffee, tobacco, rum, fish, seafood, and immunological products, which have great quality," Borisov insisted.
Russia is one of Cuba’s top ten trading partners, and both countries define their partnership as "strategic."