The president of Cuba, Miguel Diaz-Canel, and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, this Tuesday at the inauguration of the monument to Fidel Castro in Moscow. Photo: Sergei Guneyev/AFP.
The president of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel, visited Russia on an official tour to discuss bilateral issues.
The Cuban president arrived in Moscow on May 7 and continued his visit until May 9.
During his stay in Russia, he attended the military parade held in Moscow’s Red Square on May 9 commemorating Victory Day, the 79th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s triumph over Nazi Germany in the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945).
Diaz-Canel also participated for the first time in the Supreme Council of the Eurasian Economic Union, an integration bloc in which Cuba holds observer status.
The Cuban delegation included Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez, Deputy International Trade Minister Óscar Pérez-Oliva, and Cuban Ambassador to Russia Julio Garmendia.
‼️🇨🇺🇷🇺 Footage of the arrival of the President of #Cuba in #Moscow. It is expected that he will attend the Victory Day parade on Red Square on May 9. #Russia pic.twitter.com/8GGuwsIG4R
— Maimunka News (@MaimunkaNews) May 7, 2024
Previously, the Cuban president, who is also the secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, visited Russia in 2018, 2019, and 2022.
During the 2022 trip, Putin and Díaz-Canel finalized a bilateral cooperation plan that includes joint projects until 2030.
The two presidents meet in Kremlin
Presidents Putin and Díaz-Canel held a meeting at the Grand Kremlin Palace on May 9, after attending the military parade for Victory Day.
🇷🇺🇨🇺 El Presidente de Rusia, Vladímir Putin, saludó al Presidente de Cuba @DiazCanelB y la primera dama @liscuestacuba en el Kremlin de Moscú antes del Desfile Militar con motivo del Día de la Victoria y las negociaciones ruso-cubanas.#RusiaCuba pic.twitter.com/AyMGNe31G3
— Cancillería de Rusia 🇷🇺 (@mae_rusia) May 9, 2024
“The Soviet Union and modern Russia have always been on your side, on the side of the Cuban people in the struggle for their interests and for their homeland,” the Russian president said to his Cuban counterpart while welcoming him.
Putin added that during the Great Patriotic War Cuban patriots fought on the side of the Red Army. “We remember this, we know this and we will always treat with great respect those who stood with our fathers and grandfathers and great-grandfathers, shoulder to shoulder, fighting together against Nazism,” he said.
“We will always support the Cuban people and we condemn the United States’s attempts to restrict Cuba’s development, to harm it economically through sanctions, but the Cuban people for decades have fought against them and they are strong,” he stressed.
The Cuban president gave Putin a letter of congratulations sent by the leader of the Cuban Revolution, General Raúl Castro, on the occasion of his inauguration, and added that a visit to the Russian Federation is always a source of satisfaction and a moment of learning.
Díaz-Canel stated that Moscow will always have Havana’s support. He further noted that Cuba “condemns the geopolitical manipulations of the US government and the threat of NATO approaching Russian borders.”
(Telesur English) with Orinoco Tribune content
