Moscow - Cuban President Raul Castro began a week-long visit
to Moscow on Wednesday, the first by a Cuban leader since the fall of
the Soviet Union as Russia moves to restore ties with its Cold War
ally.
Cuba's revolutionary strongman Fidel Castro twice visited the
Soviet capital at the peak of the Cold War.
But relations between the two countries cooled after the collapse
of the Soviet Union, the communist island's main foreign sponsor, in
1991.
Raul Castro, who took over leadership from his brother Fidel in
2006, said in an earlier interview with news agency Itar-Tass that
his visited aimed to grow the 'great ties' existing between the two
countries.
'What do we expect from our visit? To strengthen and consolidate
that which we have achieved in the past ... this makes for a strong
basis for mutual relations,' Castro told the agency ahead of his
visit.
Castro's visit is due to last until February 4 and will be the
first by a Cuban leader in 22 years.
Many see Moscow's warming ties Cuba, long an arch-foe of the
United States as a retaliatory move in anger over US missile defence
plans and post-war aide to Georgia.
Improved ties with Cuba came amid a broader venture by Moscow to
strengthen its relations with Latin America last year. Russian
President Dmitry Medvedev met with Fidel and Raul Castro on a
strategic tour of South American in November.
In December, a Russian warship, the Admiral Chabanenko, docked in
Cuba after taking part in joint naval exercises with Venezuela, whose
President Hugo Chavez is a vociferous critic of the United States.
Castro and Medvedev are due to meet on Friday, according to the
Kremlin's website, where they will review bilateral deals in the
energy sector among others, Russian officials said ahead of the
visit.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Russia is also considering a
20-million-dollar-loan to Cuba that would be spent on buying Russian
goods, Putin said last week.
Russia's deputy prime minister in charge of energy, Igor Sechin,
said last week deals had been hashed out for Russian investments in
Cuba's metals, shipbuilding, telecom and oil sectors, including
offshore exploration of the country's territorial waters in the Gulf
of Mexico.
USA
Your Talkback on this Story