EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 21 April 2022 — On Thursday, Cuba thanked the Russian government for a donation of 19,526 tons of wheat , which reached the island a month late due to Western sanctions on Moscow for the invasion of Ukraine.
The Cuban authorities received the support of the Russian Government in an act at the Ministry of the Agri-Food Industry, which in the last year has already sent food and medical supplies to the Island, which is going through a serious economic crisis.
The Russian ambassador to Cuba, Andrei Guskov, said that this “important consignment” of “humanitarian cargo” had problems because the shipowner could not be paid “due to the sudden disconnection of several Russian banks” from the SWIFT international payment system.
He added that this measure was due to “the events related to Ukraine,” referring to the Russian invasion of the neighboring country, and stressed that Moscow is determined to continue supporting Cuba.
“We are willing to continue doing so, to the best of our ability. Even in the complicated global scenario that we are witnessing,” the ambassador added.
He affirmed that the “unilateral sanctioning attitude” of some countries will not triumph against the “firm will” of Russia and Cuba to maintain their bilateral “strategic association,” based on “friendship and solidarity.”
Guskov, who compared the sanctions against Russia with the United States embargo on Cuba, referred to three recent donations from his country of food and medical supplies.
In recent months, Cuba has received several donations from Russia, the United States, Japan, Nicaragua and Vietnam, among other countries, from both governments and private groups.
Most of the contributions were medical supplies and basic food, but in some cases several dozen buses were delivered.
Last year, the Island received 135 donations from 40 countries, mostly medical supplies and equipment for immunization and the fight against the pandemic, according to official data.
Cuba has been going through a serious crisis for months due to the combination of the covid-19 pandemic, the US embargo and failures in national macroeconomic management.
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