AFP/Moscow
Cuban President Raul Castro began a series of meetings with Russian leaders yesterday during a symbolic visit to Havana’s Cold War ally for a World War II victory parade at a time of thawing ties with Washington.
Castro’s presence in Moscow makes him one of a dwindling list of dignitaries and foreign leaders set to attend the grandiose Red Square parade on May 9 to mark 70 years since the WWII victory over Nazi Germany in 1945.
Western diplomats have made plans to visit Russia this week but few European leaders are staying for the parade and even Russia’s closest allies from the former Soviet Union, including Belarus, have opted to stay away.
The visit is Castro’s third to Havana’s Cold War-era ally Moscow as head of state. He is the first foreign leader to arrive ahead of the celebrations that will showcase Russia’s military might.
Castro met with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev yesterday after jetting into Moscow late Tuesday.
He is to meet President Vladimir Putin today for talks and attend several Kremlin events, including a dinner tomorrow, before attending the parade.
He and Putin last met in July 2014, when the Russian leader went to Cuba on his Latin American tour. This will be their first encounter since the historic rapprochement between the island’s leftist leaders and the US.
In March, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov went to Havana to reinforce Russia’s demands for an end to the US blockade.
US President Barack Obama has moved to strike Cuba from the US terror list, which removes some restrictions and grants Cuba access to the US banking system, but many other sanctions remain in place.
Cuba’s thawing of relations with Washington comes as Moscow seeks allies in Latin America and other parts of the world. Its relations with the West, particularly the US, are at a post-Cold War low over the Ukraine crisis.
The US on Tuesday authorised commercial ferry services to Cuba for the first time in more than a half-century, another major step in improving relations between the two countries.
Isolated Moscow wrote off last year 90% of Cuba’s Soviet-era debt of more than $35bn and pledged to invest in the Cuban economy.
The thawing of relations between Cuba and the US is forcing Moscow to compete with Washington to help the economically poor nation, said Viktor Kremenyuk, deputy director of the Institute of United States and Canada at the Russian Academy of Sciences.
“America changed its policy and will help Cuba, and that pushes Russia not to fall behind. It will be hard to compete for Russia but there is such an incentive. From the point of view of Cuba that is normal and good.”
Raul Castro
