Nov 28, 2008, 8:49 GMT
Havana - Russia and Cuba are to revive their historically close ties, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro said after talks in Havana late Thursday.
Medvedev and Castro met for several hours and, in a demonstration of friendship, Castro also joined the Russian president in visiting a recently opened Russian Orthodox church in the capital of the communist country.
Moscow plans to step up cooperation with Havana in the area of nuclear energy as well as oil and gas exploration in the Gulf of Mexico, Medvedev announced.
Cuba was the last stop on his tour of Latin America, during which he also visited Brazil and Venezuela after attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the Peruvian capital Lima.
In Venezuela, the Russian president had also signed cooperation agreements in the field of nuclear energy with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, while stressing that the countries' partnership did not imply a threat to other countries.
Moscow also plans to sell weapons, vehicles as well as other industrial products in Cuba and across Latin America.
Your Talkback on this Story