He wishes him “success” in his war in Ukraine
The Cuban leader was the only Westerner present at the Victory Day parade, alongside leaders from six former Soviet republics and those from Laos and Guinea-Bissau.
HAVANA TIMES – “We wish success to the Russian Federation in its special military operation.” This is how Miguel Diaz-Canel began his meeting in the Kremlin on Thursday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, referring to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The two held a meeting with the goal of “addressing the development of bilateral relations between the two nations in diplomatic, political, and economic spheres,” according to official media.
“For us, this visit, like previous ones to the Russian Federation,” constitutes “a satisfaction and a moment of learning,” declared Diaz-Canel, before handing Putin a congratulatory letter from Raul Castro. The Cuban president compared the situations of the two countries, lamenting that the island is the target of a “maximum pressure policy” from the United States and denouncing that there is a worldwide “media intoxication about the Cuban Revolution in the same way that happens to Russia”.
Similarly, he emphasized that Russia “will always” be able to count on the support of its Cuban “friends” and “brothers,” and condemned “the threat of NATO’s closeness to Russia’s borders.”
Díaz-Canel was the only Western leader who accompanied Putin at the military parade celebrating the victory over Nazi Germany. At the event, which commemorates the fallen Russians in World War II, were the presidents of six former Soviet republics, including Belarus and Kazakhstan, as well as the leaders of Laos and Guinea-Bissau.
At the end of the parade in Red Square, the leaders walked to the Alexander Gardens to lay a floral offering at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, located at the foot of the Kremlin walls.
Putin and Diaz-Canel had the opportunity to converse with the help of an interpreter, as seen on television. Subsequently, the Kremlin chief and his guests of honor moved to the Kremlin.
The leaders of the European Union countries (which celebrate their day today), the US, and Canada did not attend the parade, in which soldiers who had fought in the war with Uk
