Cuban Presidents Miguel Diaz-Canel and Russian President Vladimir Putin have spoken on the phone and want to strengthen their "
strategic partnership
" in 2023, according to an official Cuban statement released Thursday.
“
The two leaders discussed joint and mutually beneficial projects in energy and industry.
They also expressed their common will to continue consolidating the strategic partnership between the two countries
,” reads the statement published in the state daily Granma.
During the conversation, which took place on Wednesday, "
we reviewed the excellent results of our recent visit to Russia and ratified the common will to deepen political dialogue and economic, trade, financial and cooperation ties
" .
, said Mr. Diaz-Canel on his Twitter account.
Read alsoRussia warns against any “foreign interference” in Cuba
The Cuban president, whose country is facing the worst economic crisis for thirty years, went to Russia at the end of November, during an international tour which also took him to Algeria, Turkey and China.
At the end of the tour, Diaz-Canel said he had signed several oil supply agreements with Russia and Algeria, with a view to stabilizing electricity production and reviving the economy.
Russia's support for Cuba against the United States
Since May, Cuba has suffered from a chronic deficit in electricity production leading to regular load shedding in the country, including in the capital.
But the situation has stabilized since the second half of December, with much rarer cuts.
The Russian government also recently donated 25,000 tons of wheat to the communist island, according to Granma.
In parallel, the Cuban president received Wednesday in Havana the American democratic senator Ron Wyden, partisan of the repeal of the embargo and the sanctions imposed by Washington against Cuba.
"
I received US Senator Ron Wyden, to whom I expressed my willingness to work together to improve bilateral relations for the benefit of our peoples
," said the Head of State on Twitter, adding that he had detailed "
the impact on the Cuban population of the extreme measures of the United States government
".
In 2021, Senator Wyden and other Democratic lawmakers introduced a bill to end the US embargo against Cuba, in effect since 1962.