Cuba President back Russian efforts at creating multipolar world

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Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel welcomed Tuesday Russia's independent foreign policy, including the federation's efforts to create a multipolar world, during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

"We appreciate all efforts of the Russian Federation and your role in orienting the world toward multi-polarity, in encouraging it to move in this direction. In this sense, you have a very strong leadership role," Diaz-Canel said.

The Cuban President underlined how the United States was a common opposing force to his country and Putin's, condemning unilateral sanctions, which the Caribbean island nation has been bearing the brunt of for the past six decades.

"Both Russia and Cuba have been subjected to unfair unilateral sanctions and have a common enemy, which is the Yankee empire… and they [the US] have tried, in extraterritorial wars, to present themselves as 'rescuers' and 'solvers' of all the situations that may arise in the world," Diaz-Canel said.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel kicked off on Wednesday a tour of Russia, China, Algeria, and Turkey in pursuit of energy supplies amid a US-imposed blockade on the Latin American country, which has been causing blackouts and fuel shortages.

The visit will last through November 27, and the Cuban President will be accompanied by the Cuban finance and trade ministers. 

Algeria, Russia, and Venezuela supply Cuba with oil, while several Cuban power plants rely on Soviet or Russian technology.

"After two years under the impact of COVID-19, we once again crossed the Atlantic for an intense tour, in which we will address essential issues for our country, fundamentally related to the electric power sector," the president said in a Twitter announcement.

Prior to the meeting, both presidents took part in a ceremony to unveil a monument in Moscow dedicated to Fidel Castro, one of the founding fathers of Cuba as we know it, and the Cuban revolutionary movement, the country's leader from 1959 to 2008, eight years before his death in 2016.

Putin called Fidel Castro "a symbol of the era of national liberation movements" that led to the collapse of the colonial system and the creation of newly independent states in Latin America and Africa.

The two leaders also discussed other topics on the bilateral agenda, including trade and military cooperation.

Diaz-Canel is visiting Russia together with Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, Deputy Prime Minister Alejandro Gil Fernandez, Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment Rodrigo Malmierca Diaz, and other high-ranking officials.

Earlier in the day, during a meeting with Diaz-Canel, Putin said that the USSR and Russia have always supported the Cuban people in their struggle for independence, and for sovereignty.

"Based on this solid foundation of friendship, we, of course, should move on, taking into account the current global situation, and strengthen our cooperation. And I am very glad that we have such an opportunity," Putin said.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Putin affirmed Moscow’s opposition to various kinds of restrictions, embargoes, and blockades. 

The President of Russia highlighted that "all this is the result of traditional friendship, which was founded by comrade Fidel Castro."