Raul Castro in talks at Kremlin
Russia’s president hosted Cuban leader Raul Castro at the Kremlin for talks today, promising to intensify ties with Moscow’s Cold War ally.
Castro, making his first trip to Moscow in 25 years, told Russian President Dmitry Medvedev his week-long visit would be a milestone for bilateral ties.
Before the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Moscow provided billions of dollars in trade and subsidies to Cuba, and Havana was the Soviet Union’s staunchest Latin American ally during the Cold War. But after the Soviet collapse, aid and diplomatic contacts languished.
Now, Russia is once again courting Cuba and other Latin American countries in an effort to deepen its clout in a region historically dominated by the US.
Bilateral trade last year was only £167m (€185m) – a figure Medvedev said the two nations could quickly boost.
“I am convinced that we have very good conditions to bring our relations to a strategic level. We have very good potential for development,” Medvedev told Castro at the beginning of their talks.
“Undoubtedly this is a very important moment, a key landmark in relations between Russia and Cuba.”
Medvedev visited Havana in November and a Russian naval flotilla also visited the island.
A day earlier, the Cuban leader met informally with Medvedev at a lavish hunting lodge outside Moscow.
