Russia and Cuba on Track to Ratify Bilateral Agreements Soon
Cuban lawmakers in video conference with Russian senators, Dec. 23, 2024. X/ @AsambleaCuba
December 23, 2024 Hour: 2:25 pm
These countries signed about 10 agreements last year in various sectors and are working to increase tourism to the island.
On Monday, the presidents of the Russian Senate and the Cuban National Assembly held a videoconference meeting in which they advocated for the swift ratification and implementation of the bilateral cooperation agreements signed by both countries.
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“The primary task of the Parliaments of Russia and Cuba is the synchronized ratification of the mechanisms established based on the agreements reached and the creation of favorable conditions for their prompt implementation,” stated Valentina Matviyenko, the president of the Russian Senate.
She told Esteban Lazo, President of the Cuban National Assembly, that in recent years, the two countries have achieved “a qualitatively superior new level of cooperation.”
Matviyenko praised the effective work of the Friendship Group of both Parliaments and highlighted the positive development of interactions between Russian regions and Cuban provinces. She took the opportunity to remind her Cuban colleagues that in May 2025, St. Petersburg will host the 11th International Neva Environmental Congress and invited them to attend the event.
In turn, Esteban Lazo, who expressed gratitude to Russia for its support of Cuba, emphasized the strong interparliamentary relations between the two countries and the role legislators can play in implementing the agreements reached.
The political relationship between Havana and Moscow has been revitalized since November 2022, when Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel made his third official visit to Russia and met with Putin.
Since then, high-ranking officials and delegations have traveled between Russia and Cuba, including Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who visited Havana in April 2023 and February of this year. Adding to this, a Russian naval flotilla, including a frigate, a nuclear-powered submarine, a tanker, and a tugboat, visited Havana in mid-June.
As part of this renewed relationship, the two countries signed about ten agreements last year in various sectors and are also working to increase Russian tourism to the island, which reached 185,000 visitors in 2023, a 242% increase compared to the previous year. Bilateral trade grew ninefold in 2023 compared to 2022, when trade amounted to US$450 million.
This rapprochement comes at a time when the U.S. blockade against Cuba has triggered a severe economic crisis. To mitigate its effects, Russia announced in November the shipment of 80,000 tons of diesel and equipment worth US$62 million.
teleSUR/ JF Source: EFE
