Russia is betting big on Cuba as it courts alternative economic partners

Mon, 03/18/2024 - 23:30

People standing by a mural of Che Guevara. — Russia's foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, attending a wreath-laying ceremony at the José Martí monument in Havana in February.
ACN/Handout/Reuters

Russia is expanding its economic and trade ties with Cuba.
Russia has been pivoting to alternative markets in the face of Western sanctions.
Cuba — sanctioned by the US for decades — has been in economic crisis since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Russia has set its sights on broader economic and trade ties with Cuba.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko said on Friday that more than 100 Russian companies had started operations in Cuba over the past year, according to the state news agency TASS.