MOSCOW, Feb 18 (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin met Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez on Wednesday in the Kremlin, where he said that new restrictions imposed on the communist-run island were “unacceptable”, Russian state news agencies reported.
A senior Russian diplomat said last week that Moscow would provide aid to Havana, including material assistance, to help navigate a U.S. attempt to starve the island of oil.
“Now is a special period, new sanctions. You know how we feel about this,” Putin told Rodriguez, according to the TASS news agency. “We do not accept anything like this.”
The Kremlin chief said relations between Russia and Cuba were developing “on a positive track”, TASS reported.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told his Cuban counterpart in a separate meeting on Wednesday that Moscow was urging the U.S. not to impose a full naval blockade on the island and was advocating negotiations instead.
Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesman, was quoted as saying by TASS on Wednesday that Moscow did not discuss the Cuba issue with Washington. Russia, Ukraine and the U.S. concluded trilateral peace talks in Geneva earlier on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Alex Richardson)
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