Russia has promised to give “active support” to Cuba as the United States ramps up pressure on the island nation. Kremlin foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova announced the move on Thursday during a press briefing in Moscow.
Recent moves by Washington have triggered a severe energy crisis in Cuba. The U.S. cut off oil shipments from Venezuela to Cuba and threatened to punish outside companies that do business with the island. Tensions grew even worse on Wednesday when the U.S. Justice Department filed charges against former Cuban President Raúl Castro. The charges are tied to the 1996 killings of four people involved in civilian rescue flights.
During her briefing, Zakharova expressed “full solidarity” with Cuba. She criticized the U.S. for what she called “gross interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state, intimidation, and the use of unilateral restrictive measures, threats, and blackmail.”
READ: US Promises Cuba A ‘New Relationship’ And $100M Aid Package Amid Power Crises
Zakharova stated that “Cuba continues to be the target of brutal economic pressure from the United States.” She noted that new U.S. restrictions from early May against third-country companies are “the latest round of Washington’s pressure policy, the primary goal of which is to strangle Cuba economically.”
Russia has previously tried to ease Cuba’s energy issues by sending oil. While the U.S. seized a sanctioned Russian tanker in January, Washington allowed another Russian oil shipment to dock at the Cuban port of Matanzas in March. However, those fuel supplies have already run out. A separate Russian tanker sent in April is currently sitting in the Atlantic Ocean, waiting for orders.
The new U.S. charges against Castro have caused people to wonder if Washington is planning a military intervention. The legal move mirrors the case of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who was charged by the U.S. with drug trafficking in 2020 and captured earlier this year during a raid by American forces in Caracas.
U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly made threats about stepping into Cuba. This week, Trump stated that he would have “the honor of taking Cuba.”
While Russia has long positioned itself as a shield against American power, its actual next steps remain unclear. The Kremlin did not take military action when U.S. forces captured Maduro earlier this year, and it stayed quiet during U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, which is also a Russian ally. At the same time, Russia’s military remains heavily occupied with ongoing fighting in eastern Ukraine.
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