Moscow - Cuban Foreign Minsiter Felipe Perez Roque met with
Russian leaders in Moscow on Tuesday in the latest sign of
strengthening military and economic ties between the Soviet-era
allies.
Roque carried an invitation for an official visit to President
Dmitry Medvedev from Cuban leader Raul Castro, news agency Interfax
reported.
'We have overcome the pause that appeared in our relations in
the past decade, and today our contacts are intensive and positive,'
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said in televised comments. 'Cuba
has been and remains one of our key partners in Latin America.'
Russia and Cuba sealed a raft of accords this month during a visit
by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin to the Caribbean Island,
his third trip in three months.
Deals were signed in the automotive, nickel and energy sectors.
Russia has also made overtures to tighten military cooperation
between the two states.
'Cuba will not ask for permission from any other country, we have
the right to develop bilateral military-industrial cooperations like
all countries,' Roque said at a press conference with his Russian
counterpart Sergei Lavrov.
But he denied any possibility of Moscow deploying missile elements
in the country.
Analysts have warned that Russia's move to revive cooperation with
US foes in the Western Hemisphere, including joint naval exercises
this month with Venezuela in US-patrolled waters of the Caribbean,
poses a distinct foreign policy trial for the new US administration
of Barack Obama.
Lavrov challenged Obama's administration Tuesday to review
economic sanctions against Cuba, a feature of US foreign policy since
the Kennedy era.
'We've already expressed our views on the economic sanctions,
along with an overwhelming majority of the international community,'
he said answering questions at a news conference Tuesday.
'I am not going to give any advice to the US president, but I've
heard that relations with Cuba are among the issues his
administration will be reviewing,' he said.
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