The Russian government has called the recent sanctions imposed by the United States against Cuba illegal and unacceptable. Moscow asserted that the Caribbean nation will continue to develop despite these new aggressions aimed at blocking the island's prosperity.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova denounced this Friday, July 4, that the unilateral measures contradict the UN Charter and international law, as they represent a form of unjustifiable pressure on a sovereign state.
"We categorically reject any unilateral sanctions against sovereign and independent states in violation of the UN Charter and the norms and principles of international law," Zakharova said in a statement.
The restrictions, formalized by President Donald Trump on June 30 in a new memorandum, mark a return to the hard-line stance of his first term, undoing the progress toward bilateral normalization promoted by the Barack Obama administration.
"We consider any form of pressure against the Cuban government and the citizens of this country to be absolutely illegal and unacceptable," he said, noting that Trump's memorandum "is a return to the strategy of maximum pressure against the 'Island of Freedom' and seeks to continue tightening the noose of restrictions."
Zakharova asserted that Russia will maintain and expand its alliance with Havana. “We will deepen our political, economic, and social cooperation with Cuba. The US sanctions are doomed to failure,” she stated.
The Russian diplomatic spokesperson concluded by stating that "the US sanctions policy against Cuba is doomed to failure, as always."
Trump's new memorandum, unveiled Monday, claimed to end alleged "economic practices that disproportionately benefit the Cuban government, military, intelligence, or security agencies at the expense of the Cuban people."
