EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 18 March 2024 — The president of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel, congratulated his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on his re-election for a fifth term as president, after achieving his biggest electoral victory since he came to power this Sunday, which will allow him to remain in the Kremlin until 2030.
“Our sincere congratulations on the re-election of President Vladimir Putin. It is a reliable sign of the Russian people’s recognition of his management,” the Cuban ruler said on the social network X.
Díaz-Canel said that “links between Cuba and Russia will continue to be strengthened, in sectors identified for the well-being of our peoples.”
In the last year, the relationship between the two governments has intensified, with the exchange of visits by senior officials, including trips to Havana by the Russian Chancellor, Sergey Lavrov, the secretary of the Security Council and the deputy prime minister, Dmitry Chernyshenko.
Russia is one of Cuba’s top ten trading partners, and both governments define their association as “strategic.” In November 2022, Díaz-Canel and Putin analyzed in Moscow the development prospects for the Russian-Cuban strategic partnership in the political, economic, commercial, cultural and humanitarian spheres. Several agreements were signed, including the supply of oil, a key area for Havana.
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