Tensions between the countries escalated further on Wednesday. The U.S. Department of Justice announced it was filing charges against former Cuban President Raul Castro in connection with the 1996 murder of four people involved in civilian rescue flights.
Russia tries to present itself as the main force resisting the US-led Western hegemonyand its decades-long alliance with Cuba is one of the most significant.
“Full solidarity”
During a press briefing in Moscow, Zakharova expressed full solidarity with Cuba in the face of the “glaring interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state, intimidation and the use of unilateral restrictive measures, threats and blackmail“.
“Cuba continues to be the target of brutal economic pressure from the United States,” she added. — The new restrictions imposed by the White House in early May on companies from third countries that operate on Freedom Island are the latest round of Washington's pressure policywhose main goal is the economic strangulation of Cuba.
The Kremlin's pledge to support Havana follows Russia's efforts to alleviate the island's energy crisis through oil supplies.
In January, the United States seized a Russian tanker subject to sanctions, but in March Washington gave Moscow permission to send the shipment to the Cuban port of Matanzas. Since then, fuel supplies have been depleted and a Russian tanker that was sent to the island in April remains suspended in the Atlantic.
The announcement of U.S. charges against Castro sparked growing speculation that Washington may be planning a military intervention on the island.
