Cuba grateful for Russia’s position on US sanctions pressure — Foreign Ministry

Cuba is grateful to Russia for its position on the United States’ sanctions pressure on Havana, the Cuban Foreign Ministry said on Twitter on Friday.

"Cuba expresses gratitude to Russia’s government, parliament, state agencies and people for their constant solidarity and support of demands to put an end to the United States’ blockade and abolish the Helms-Burton Act," the tweet reads.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said during his July visit to Cuba that the United States’ trade blockade was absolutely unacceptable. He also pointed out that by activating Title III of the Helms-Burton Act, the US once again showed disregard for international law as it sought to apply national laws extraterritorially.

US sanctions on Cuba

The United States severed diplomatic ties with Cuba in 1961 in response to the nationalization of American property on the island. Washington later enforced a trade and economic embargo on Havana.

In December 2014, then US President Barack Obama admitted that Washington’s previous policy towards Cuba was not working and announced a new policy aimed at mending bilateral relations and easing sanctions. However, the rapprochement policy was rejected by Donald Trump. He tightened the rules for Americans travelling to Cuba and imposed a ban on doing business with organizations controlled by the Cuban military.

Title III of the Helms-Burton Act, which makes it possible for US nationals to file lawsuits over property confiscated in Cuba in the past, had been continuously suspended by US presidential administrations since 1996 but Donald Trump moved to lift the suspension.