Cuban and Russian foreign ministers highlight similarities in foreign policy
A joint statement signed by the Cuban and Russian Foreign Affairs Ministers on March 24, at the end of a three-day visit to Moscow by Felipe Pérez Roque, highlights the many similarities in the foreign policy of both countries.
On signing the document, the Cuban minister and his Russian counterpart, Igor Ivanov, reaffirmed the intention of both countries to work towards a strengthening of joint action in the international arena for a more just and democratic world order.
Likewise they stated that both sides had reviewed the political and socioeconomic processes taking place in Latin America and the Caribbean and discussed the need to support political efforts to achieve peace and national conciliation in Colombia. They also deliberated on the positive evolution of the political process in Venezuela in relation to its strict observance of the country’s constitution and their opposition to attempts to destabilize the internal situation.
Equally, they expressed concern for the increasing tendency towards unilateral actions in international affairs and stressed the central role of the United Nations in maintaining world peace and security.
With respect to the current military action against Iraq, they spoke in favor of resolving the problem through the relevant Security Council resolutions – including Resolution 1441 – and emphasized the serious consequences of the war, both for the majority of nation states and Iraq.
They also reaffirmed the decision of both governments to combat international terrorism in all its various guises, drug trafficking and transnational organized crime, and expressed their support for the formation of a broad international anti-terrorist coalition under the aegis of the UN.
Likewise, they stressed the importance of general and total disarmament under strict and efficient international controls.
The two ministers also expressed support for a political-diplomatic solution to the so-called nuclear crisis in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, on the basis of guaranteeing the safety of states in the region and maintaining the nuclear-free status of the Korean peninsula.
In the ministers’ opinion, the conflict in the Middle East, the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and the creation of their own state with secure and stable borders, as well as the right of the state of Israel to a secure existence, are fundamental conditions for future peace in the region.
Their statement goes on to condemn the practice of applying coercive unilateral economic measures, including those of an extraterritorial nature such as the U.S. Helms-Burton Act. In this context, they reiterated their condemnation of the unjust economic, commercial and financial U.S. blockade of Cuba.
In conclusion, the Cuban and Russian foreign affairs ministers expressed their satisfaction at the level of their political dialogue and its stable, open and trustworthy nature.
They stressed the importance of revitalizing economic and trade relations, including the utilization of the Intergovernmental Commission to increase economic and technical scientific cooperation.
During his stay in Moscow, Felipe Pérez Roque also met with the vice presidents of the Federation Council (Upper House) and of the Duma (Lower House), Valerio Goregliad and Liubov Sliska.
At the end of his visit, Pérez Roque left for Armenia, from where he will go on to Ukraine and Belarus.